Warriors and Wizards
by Night's Darkness
Summary: Sequel to A warrior's life. Set at Hogwarts. Ron and the elves are guarding the school and Ron's teaching a class. It's a stressful way of life and now he has to defend it before his family and friends, while the enemy creeps closer and closer.
1. Chapter 1

This is the sequel to A warrior's life, and it's mostly set at Hogwarts. Ron's arrived their with the elves and now has to face his family and friends and defend his newfound way of life.

Note: I did a good bit of editing to A warrior's life, so although it may not look like there's been any additions I actually added two more chapters, but the chapters are longer and so there are fewer. (Does that make sense, I'm not sure it does) I think the last two chapters are important to read, as they set the tone for this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or the Goa'uld. All unfamiliar characters are mine though.

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**Chapter 1 **

Harry Potter stared out the window, watching the rain fall in torrents from the massive grey clouds that hung majestically overhead. He sighed and turned his head inwards. Hermione smiled slightly at him and then returned to her book. He was glad he didn't have to make conversation between them at the moment, the silence was nice, it let him think. He turned his head to left of Hermione where a chair stood. It was empty. In Harry's mind that was a crime. The person who always sat there when they were in this room should be with them. But he wasn't. Harry scowled angrily, feeling his bitterness rise again. Why? Why Ron? Why was he not here with them? Harry really wished that question could be answered but only a few people had it, and they weren't talking.

"What do you think Ron's doing right now?" Hermione asked softly. This question was one that was asked almost everyday. They'd try to guess where he was and imagine what he was doing. This sad little game was a testament to how much they missed him. Today however, Harry was in no mood to play.

"I don't know Hermione. I just wished he'd come back, it's been two bloody months, what is he up to that's so important we can't know about it? Why can't his parents know about it?" he vented angrily before staring out the window again. Things were alarmingly quiet without Ron, Harry really hated the famous saying _'You never realise what you've got till it's gone.'_ Especially since it was unbearably true. Suddenly the floor below them seemed to shake and a familiar voice rang through the house.

"UNGRATEFUL! NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE GETTING INTO!" Harry sighed irritably. It was Mrs. Weasley, she was once again yelling at Fred and George. The twins, who'd already opened their joke shop, were furious that their mother was trying to force them back into school to complete their education. The business was already a success and they saw no reason for them to get their N.E.W.T.s. Their mother didn't agree. She wanted them to complete their schooling and then go on to work. While she couldn't deny their success she was sure it wouldn't last, she just didn't believe in that sort of business having any real base. So the whole summer had been with them arguing over it. The twins were legally of age, but they hadn't completed their education and they hadn't been expelled so that meant that they weren't completely free. It was starting to look like the twins would be rejoining their old year in seventh year. Merlin knows when Molly Weasley is set about something she usually gets her way. Although Harry had found the arguments kind of funny at first, now they were just annoying. He sighed loudly and the window misted up with his breath. He idly drew random images in it as it disappeared. He was desperately bored. He looked at Hermione again and finally said,

"What to play wizards chess?"

"Oh alright then." She set down her book and he set up the board. It was Ron's; he'd left it behind him. Lupin had said he was so busy that he wouldn't have time to play. They began to play, but neither made much progress at first, and Harry mentally grumbled that Ron would have beaten him by now. Then he felt guilty, that wasn't fair to Hermione, she missed Ron as much as he did… maybe more. Harry was glad that they'd be going back to Hogwarts tomorrow; classes would help keep his mind off his worry for his friend. Besides, maybe Ron would be there, hopefully with an explanation. Hermione sighed, as if she was thinking along the same lines as him and then moved her bishop

"Checkmate."

'_What? Oh damnit! I never win!' _he scowled and then said "Rematch!" Hermione smiled slightly.

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Don't worry that's just the start, chapter 2 is way longer.

Night's Darkness


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Goodbye dears! Be good, for goodness sake. Owl as often as you can! Fred, George, you two had better work hard this year!" Molly Weasley yelled after them as they moved down the train's corridor.

"Bloody hell, she never stops!" groused Fred sourly

"You're just bitter because after all the hubbub and the spectacular exit you two made you're being sent back with your tail between your legs." Ginny sneered, not very cheerful herself, although she perked up as she was called away by several friends in a compartment.

"Come on Harry; let's sit with Luna and Neville." Hermione pulled his hand and they went over and joined the two.

"Oh hello. Have a nice summer?" asked Neville, smiling cheerfully at them.

"Well yes, and you?" Hermione answered pleasantly.

"It was good, Gran was forever boasting about what happened in the Department of Mysteries." Neville blushed but you could see he enjoyed the praise.

"That's nice."

"Where's Ronald?" asked Luna out of nowhere. Both Harry and Hermione's faces clouded over and neither answered right away.

"You haven't fallen out have you?" Neville looked worried.

"No it's just-"

"What? Did Weasel do so badly in his O.W.L.s that he wasn't even allowed back into school?" drawled Malfoy loudly as he came in with his entourage of Crabb and Goyle.

"Shove off Malfoy!" Harry snapped, whirling around, drawing his wand.

"Harry no!" Hermione grabbed his wand arm, "Just ignore the ferret, he's still bitter that his dear father is in Azcaban." Malfoy's face clouded over and he drew his own wand and pointed it at her.

"You'd better watch yourself mudblood! Or else-"

"Or else what? You'll sneer at me? Oh I feel so threatened." Hermione smirked "Just get out of here Malfoy, before you embarrass yourself more then you already have." Malfoy glared at her but then left, followed by Crabb and Goyle. Harry laughed after them and then he put his wand away. They all sat back down and Luna repeated her question about Ron.

"Well… see the thing is… we don't know where he is."

"What do you mean? He hasn't run away has he?" Neville looked upset again. Harry knew that Ron and Neville were quite good friends.

"No, he's, he's working for Dumbledore."

"WHAT?" Hermione made frantic gestures to shush him. "Ron's working for Dumbledore? You mean against You-Know-You?" Neville whispered. Luna was leaning forward, looking eager.

"He's not looking for Wrackspurts is he?"

"Um what?" Luna explained what Wrackspurts were while Hermione obviously fought to not roll her eyes.

"No, he's probably not looking for Wrackspurts, we have no idea what he's doing. His parents don't even know where he is." she said once Luna was finished.

"Do you think he's in danger?" Neville worried

"I'd say so; the hand on the Weasley clock keeps moving around between Mortal Peril and Dying." Harry wasn't sure why he told them this; maybe he'd needed to say it to a fresh ear. They both looked frightened now, as did Hermione. She actually had tears in her eyes.

"Will, will we be doing the D.A. this year?" asked Luna finally.

"No point now, with Umbridge gone is there? Harry shrugged. Neville looked crestfallen.

"I liked the D.A. I learned loads with you" he said.

"I enjoyed the meetings too, it was like having friends." Luna said calmly. Harry squirmed uncomfortably, embarrassed at Luna's bluntness.

"You have friends Luna." Hermione protested. It seemed a reflex in girls to reassure each other, even if it required them to lie through their teeth.

"No, but it's alright. I'm used to it." Luna then unfolded a copy of _The Quibbler_ and disappeared behind it. The three others shared an uncomfortable look and then began to talk about general things and then lapsed into a comfortable silence. Harry's eyes wandered lazily around when they landed on the magazine in Luna's hands. He noted there was a picture of a house elf on it and the heading, _'House elves. Are they all that they seem?'_ Curious he asked

"Luna, can I see that?" and held his hand out. Luna raised her head and Harry experienced a slight heart attack when he saw she was wearing a bizarre pair of coloured glasses. Wordlessly she passed the magazine to him and he opened it to the page with the picture of a house elf. The same heading was on the page below the picture and under that and on the next page was an article

_For many centuries wizards have had the pleasure of free labour thanks to the small efficient work of house elves. _

_BUT WHY DO THE HOUSE ELVES SERVE US?_

_There have been many theories as to why the elves serve us, some say that they were bred to do so, others say they are an oppressed species _(Hermione ought to read this, Harry thought suppressing a smile)_ brainwashed to do our bidding. But there has been a new theory in recent years, one that is much more sinister and unnerving and the Quibbler has the privilege of being the first publicist to set loose this earth shaking theory. Delving deep into history there have been many discoveries of manuscripts talking of evil creatures of horrifying description. These creatures preyed on muggle and wizard alike and they were resistant to magic. They attacked villages slaughtering everyone. They were called urks._

_BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HOUSE ELVES?_

_Well it was believed by the muggle writers that they were all killed, but the wizarding writers spoke of how the great circle of wizard elders finally came up with a spell to stop the urks. They used it on a large group of them and the writers have described how they were transformed into small frail creatures with large, pointed ears. These creatures at once threw themselves at the feet of the wizards and swore to obey them as the spell had erased the black from their hearts and they truly regretted what they had done. They called themselves elves, and this name became House Elves due to the fact that they generally never left the house unless ordered to. _

_BUT CAN THIS STORY BE BELIEVED?_

_This would indeed explain why the elves are so eager to please; they wish to pay for their crimes. It would also explain why there are so few house elves these days, the majority of whom reside in Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. When the urks were transformed there were only about a hundred of them left. Even after all this time that would not be enough to rebuild a population, especially as a house elf generally only has up to two offspring. This theory is the most believable out of all the ones out there. Yet one question still remains._

_SHOULD THE HOUSE ELVES CONTINUE TO BE PUNISHED?_

_Hasn't enough time passed that they have no doubt paid their debts? Should they continue to serve wizarding kind? Or should they be absolved. And if they are, what then? What will happen to them? Keep reading the Quibbler as we continue to delve into the mysteries of the House Elves._

Harry slowly closed the magazine looking thoughtful. This had to be the second article in the Quibbler to make sense, the first being his own interview about his encounter with Voldemort. He had to admit it would explain an awful lot. Yet now he faced a conundrum. Dare he show Hermione? The most likely thing to happen would be that she'd blow up at him; her temper wasn't always the best these days. It suddenly struck Harry that it was probably because she didn't have Ron to argue with. He decide to strategically place the magazine in a way that she'd see it and instantly take notice, then it'd be up to her what to do. He set it down on the seat near her and then looked out the window. About five minutes later he heard rustling and knew she was looking at it. Five more minutes past and then she set it down, her face disapproving. She didn't believe the article; at least she was telling herself she didn't believe it. Harry grinned, this promised to keep her distracted for days, and so she'd probably be less inclined to blow up at him. He really wished Ron were there, so that he could tease Hermione about it. He sighed irritably, and then looked out the window again. He wished dearly to see the familiar silhouette of Hogwarts, he couldn't wait to return to it, and the Great Hall, his dormitory with its red and gold décor, his classes, with the possible exception of Potions although he was depressed that without the class he'd be unable to follow through with his hope that he could become an Auror. He mentally growled at Snape in frustration. He hated that man so much!

"Anything from the trolley dears?" asked the lady with the food trolley. Harry jumped; he hadn't realised how much time must have passed. He jumped up and bought a load of things and then shared them out. Hermione, still scowling, took the offered Cauldron Cake and dug in. Neville and Luna took some chocolate frogs. Harry examined the card. He'd gotten Dumbledore again. This reminded him that he'd gotten him for the first time the same day he'd met Ron. Feeling thoroughly cheerless he set down the card and stared out the window, not saying anything for the rest of the trip. At long last he saw the silhouette of Hogwarts and said softly

"We'd better change." They nodded and Hermione and Luna left to change. Dean Thomas, having been shooed out of Ginny's compartment, joined them to change into the familiar robes of Hogwarts School. It felt kind of nice to be in them once again Harry noted. The train finally came to a stop and Harry and Hermione and Ginny got out together. They shared a Thestral driven carriage with Dean, Neville and Luna. Harry shivered, it was very cold for this time of year, and he drew his cloak around himself tighter, blowing on his fingers, wishing he'd grabbed his gloves from his trunk. Peeves was noticeably absent this year from the Foyer and things seemed the same. However there was a noticeable difference in the Great Hall. Instead of the usual four house tables, there were five. The one in the middle was vacant of people but covered in the usual golden plates and cutlery. Who was it for?

"Wonder what's up. Is it my imagination or are there more chairs at the Staff table?" asked Seamus curiously. Harry stood on tiptoe to see over the slow moving, slightly confused crowd. Seamus was right, there were two or three more chairs then was normal and Harry also spotted Slughorn a man he'd met over the summer briefly when Dumbledore had stopped by the Weasley house. Finally they all managed to sit at the Gryffindor table and at last silence began to descend. People were curious about the new table, and were hoping Dumbledore would shed some light on it. The side door opened and in walked the first years. Harry sighed annoyed. Obviously they'd have to wait till the sorting was over…

"That took way too long!" moaned Seamus "Are there more first years then normal or what?"

"No didn't look like it." Dumbledore stood up and raised his hands for silence. At once the volume descended into nothingness.

"Welcome all." he greeted, "Now I'm sure many of you are wondering about the new table." He chuckled lightly. "I may say that despite the extreme intelligence in this room, none of you could ever begin to guess the truth." He motioned to the teachers who all stood up. It was only now that Harry noticed that they were all dressed in their finery. Whoever was coming was someone important. "Now I want all students to line up on the front steps, thank goodness it isn't raining." Dumbledore then walked down the hall and out the door. Sharing bewildered looks with the others Harry stood up and followed the throng back outside. As they lined up by year the great size of Hagrid came up to them with Fang at his side.

"Perfect timing Professor Dumbledore, we just got the signal."

"Ah excellent." Signal? For _what_? _What the bloody hell was going on?_ Harry felt like stamping his foot in frustration, but restrained himself. The crowd went quiet and no sound seemed to be coming from anywhere. Then a faint rumbling emanated from the Forbidden Forest. Harry felt Hermione grab his arm in fear. His eyes went wide as a herd of horses barrelled through the trees at top speed. Atop them were riders, all wearing cloaks, with their hoods up and all armed to the teeth with swords, bows and arrows. The leader of the herd lead them up towards the school till they were relatively close and then, while the horse was still moving, slid off effortlessly and smoothly, the other riders mimicking the movements. The horses came to a stand still and the riders all petted them in apparent thanks. The leaders horse caught Harry's eye. It had a white coat, but it's mane and tail was fiery, very like the Weasley red hair. It snorted and snuffled against it's rider's hand and then seemed to give him a slight nip on the shoulder. On the rider's other shoulder perched a bird. It looked like a dark phoenix and it seemed to be quite full of itself as the leader petted it affectionately. One of the other riders, female guessed Harry by her more curvy figure, although the whole group was so thin and tall it would have been difficult to tell the difference, walked over to the leader, soon joined by two males, again Harry was just guessing and they conversed softly the four of them. Then the female reached up and removed her hood.

Harry felt the air go out of his body as he beheld a beauty like he'd never seen before. Her face was the embodiment of perfection, forget Fleur, this woman was more beautiful then anything Harry had ever seen. She had high cheekbones, and a delicate chin. Her lips were full and red and her eyes were a shining blue. Her hair was golden and blond and curly. Her figure was hourglass perfect and she was tall and lean. He could almost hear the I.Q. level drop among the boys as they gaped at this beauty. She seemed unaware of their stares as she smiled radiantly at the other three. The leader kept his hood up, but the two other males pushed off their hoods. This time the girls gasped and sighed as they saw two extraordinarily handsome males. One had dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, he was taller then the other three although only slightly taller then the leader. He too had high cheekbones and was tall and slim as was the other male, although this one had blond hair left free. Behind the foursome all the other riders were freeing their heads from their hoods and displaying beauty and perfection. All of them were pale, tall and lean and their skin emanated a soft glow in the other wise dark grounds. They wore clothes that looked like they were from the Middle Ages. They couldn't be human Harry decided; no human could look that beautiful and fair. At last, after the first female spoke in what Harry guessed was a teasing tone to the leader, he laughed loudly and swept off his hood. Harry felt his heart stop and heard many people exclaim many words of disbelief softly. The red hair flashed in the little light and shone like fire. The blue eyes studied the stupefied students and the mouth turned into a broad grin. It was Ron! But he was a hell of a lot taller, and his shoulders broader. His arms rippled with well built muscles and his step was light yet firm. His eyes shone like those around him with merriment and wisdom. He looked older and much more self-confident. Harry took note of all the weapons he carried and supposed anyone would feel confident if they had all those weapons at their fingertips. The whole student body jumped as Dumbledore clapped his hands in delight,

"What an entrance, Captain Balanidhren, most impressive!" he laughed in great amusement and walked forward to the large group and Ron. Ron laughed and walked straight to Dumbledore and shook his hand with great confidence.

"Well you know me Dumbledore, never one for hiding in the shadows, and sadly there was no giant chess set to help me show off." he grinned broadly and let go of Dumbledore's hand. He then extended his arm to the three other people he'd been speaking with. "You remember these three I hope."

"Considering that you were rarely out of their company all summer… yes I do recall them vaguely." Dumbledore chuckled.

"Ah excellent, now I'm famished, so we ought to be getting inside but before we do I have something that ought to be taken care of right away." He then walked up to the large mass of gaping teens and called out loudly

"Fred! George! Get out here!" There was a moment of stillness and then the twins pushed their way forward and approached Ron, their mouths open and their eyes wide. "Elladan! Elrohir! You too!" Ron called, turning around, ignoring his brothers for the moment. At once two males approached the little threesome. They were as tall as all the others with dark hair and eyes, and were completely identical to each other. Ron stood between the two sets of twins and said loudly, "Fred and George, meet Elladan and Elrohir. You four are equal in prank skill."

"Oh really?" asked one of the males.

"I doubt it." smirked the other, folding his arms.

"Oh I assure you, Fred and George are as good as you." Ron insisted.

"I bet we're better even." Fred said suddenly.

"Yeah, we could prank you under the tables." The two males shared disbelieving looks and then said

"Well we'll just have to see then won't we?" They each patted the Weasley twins on the shoulder and turned around and started to walk away.

"OI!" bellowed Fred frantically searching his pockets, "YOU STOLE MY WAND!"

"AND MINE!" yelled George, also searching his pockets. The other twins laughed a light pleasant sound and then tossed the stolen wands to Ron, who was chuckling. Ron caught them deftly and passed them to his brothers who took them sourly. As the twins stalked back to the school Harry saw Ron throw a wink at Dumbledore. Harry wondered what Ron was up to.

"Well now that that's done, to dinner I think." Dumbledore beckoned the large group of about two hundred people first indicating that they would go ahead of the students. Ron approached the female from before and clipped his heels together smartly, extending his arm like a gentleman.

"M' lady." he smirked, speaking smoothly. She smiled and looped her arm in his saying

"M' lord." Ron looked behind and said something in a language that Harry had never heard before. It was a gentle smooth kind of language. The people released their horses and Ron then led them to the castle. They all moved with amazing grace, their footsteps making no sound on the grass and when Harry looked behind them there was no sign anyone had ever been there. They walked up the stairs and disappeared into the castle. The students were quick to follow, much to their relief, as it was extremely cold out there. Harry noticed that some of the strange beings had lagged behind to stare at the moving portraits and suits of armour and a few had yet to sit in the Great Hall because they were too busy staring at the ceiling. Their eyes were wide and they couldn't have looked happier Harry fancied. Several of them had removed their weapons and wrapped them together with their cloaks and slipped them under the table at their feet, others were in the process of doing so while a blond one, different from the first blond male, looked as if he had no intention of doing so or even eating. His face made it quite clear that he was not here because he wanted to be. As he took his seat Harry took a closer look at the people and noticed something interesting. Their ears were elegantly pointed at the tip instead of curved like a human's. Harry was amusedly reminded of a sci-fi show with pointed eared people. He assumed it was just a coincidence. He sat down and looked up at the Staff Table. Ron sat beside Professor Mc Gonagall with the female on his other side and the dark haired male on her other side. Ron surveyed the room as it filled and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. The female on his right said something to him and the both of them laughed. Harry heard Hermione give a 'humph' sound. _'Uh oh.'_ he thought torn between amusement and exasperation. He noticed now that she'd removed her cloak that she wore a blue dress that was incredibly fancy and made her look like an old fashioned fairy tale princess. Around her neck he saw a delicate jewel and as she sat down she stroked it reverently. At last Dumbledore spoke up and the hall went silent.

"Now I'm sure you have many, many questions, but as I can hear Captain Balanidhren's stomach over here," Ron blushed, so Dumbledore must have meant him, "it can probably all wait. So to students, teachers, and guests, I say… tuck in!" At once the food arrived and Harry heard more then one of the pointy-eared people exclaim sharply in surprise. Ron laughed again and dug in with great gusto. Harry's own stomach rumbled and he realised how hungry he was. He attacked his food and was enjoying himself when Hermione said

"What's that?" and pointed to a dish. Harry didn't recognise it and guessed it was a recipe that belonged to the people behind him who were conversing quietly, their melodious voices making their own chatter sound gruff and harsh. Curious he reached out and took a sample and tried it.

"Mm! That's good!" he licked his lips and got some more before digging in again. Encouraged, people around him tried it and there was soon a chorus of enjoyment noises emanating from the Gryffindor table. Harry saw some flat bread and tried it. It was oddly sweet but he liked it too. There was also some kind of fruit mix that was quite refreshing. Finally the last of the desserts disappeared and Dumbledore rose again. He raised his hands for quiet and when he had it he said

"Now before we get bogged down in explanations I have a few announcements. First, it gives me great pleasure to welcome back Professor Slughorn who will be resuming his old position of Potions."

Potions?

_Potions!_

"What? But then what's Snape…" Ginny trailed off slowly as if she realised what happened.

"Professor Snape in the meantime will be taking over Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"No!" Harry hissed, feeling so shocked he couldn't even shout. His gaze searched for Ron and found him staring at the table his gaze troubled. The female beside him touched his shoulder in concern. He gave her a small smile of assurance. Dumbledore continued once the Slytherins had stopped cheering.

"Now I am sorry to say that our dear Professor Binns finally realised that he was a ghost and consequently left us. Not to worry though, we have Lord Earithramir and Lady Cilath here to take over for him. Captain Balanidhren as given me his assurance that they will be more then adequate replacements." As he said their names the two people beside Ron stood up and the crowd clapped eagerly. Ron shook his head as if in mock sadness. As the noise died down the two sat down again. "And finally, taking on much more responsibility then any other person his age, Captain Balanidhren will be teaching a new mandatory class entitled Physical Defence. He himself will now explain it and the situation as it is." Dumbledore nodded to Ron who stood up as the much older wizard sat down. Ron walked around the table and stood before them without the table between them. Harry took note of his clothes. Dark navy outer tunic, trousers and boots and a light blue silk inner tunic. He stood with his hands behind his back like a solider at ease. He surveyed the room again and his face was inscrutable. He opened his mouth and then shut it again seemingly thinking. Then he spoke at last.

"Where to begin?" he wondered Harry noticed his accent was different and his voice was a little lighter, "I suppose the beginning is best. But should I start at the beginning of my tale, or the beginning of yours?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully and then said "Well first I will tell you who these magnificent beings are." His arm gestured to the people in question. "They are called elves, not to be confused with house elves, never! They are immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. For the record those words are not just propaganda they are quite true." The people, elves, chuckled softly. "They have been around since before humans evolved and they will be here long after we have gone. But enough on that you'll get to know them better as this year continues. Now, they are here for a simple reason. To protect this school and those who dwell in it from the Dark forces. I'm afraid we have much more to worry about then just Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise, since when did Ron call Voldemort by his name? Then he registered what had just been said. New enemies? What could they be? He shared a worried look with Hermione. "We have other enemies, ones that are much older then Voldemort. The elves are seasoned warriors, skilled in all forms of battle and they know the enemy. I command them and am now called Captain Balanidhren officially, although I still answer to Ron like always." He gave them a disarming smile and Harry had to note that Ron was actually quite handsome. "Now, a few rules, number one, all information of the elves is to remain within this school, no one is to write home about them or me or anything about what we do. It's too risky that it will fall into enemy hands and bring them straight here. Number two, show the elves respect, they are here at their own risk to protect you, and they deserve your respect. Number three, obey them. If they say to you to hit the ground then you hit the ground. If they say run like the wind you'd better run like a force ten gale. If they say jump into the lake, then by the Valar you'd better jump. Do keep in mind though that they are mischievous so use a dose of common sense when it comes to following their orders." The elves laughed and Ron smirked then he became quite stern just like a solider. "Number four is actually a procedure. We have a new alarm set up. At the first sign of trouble it will go off and then you are all to get to your common rooms. I don't care where you are or what you are doing at the time you will go straight up or down or wherever to your common room and you will stay there until otherwise informed. Is that clear?" A murmur ran through the crowd. "I'm sorry but my hearing isn't quite as good as the elves, could you please speak up." The murmur was repeated but louder. Ron rolled his eyes slightly and smiled to take the sting out of the gesture. "Alright that's as good as it'll get I suppose. Now one more thing, my classes will require you to wear clothes that are easy to move in and that you won't regret getting ruined by blades and whatnot. You'll have ten minutes after the previous class to get changed and be outside near Hagrid's hut. I'll have an area sectioned off for you, but you're not to enter it without me, since I may have a few surprises set up for you. Oh and if you're late you will lose house points, and/or get detention, I now have that power." Ron gave a mock evil grin and then cocked his head to the side seemingly musing something. He then snapped back and said "My classes are a serious business, I will not tolerate messing around, I cannot afford it, not when it could result in someone loosing an arm or leg or head. Well since you gotta go to bed anyway, we can test the new alarm now. With your permission of course Dumbledore."

"Of course Balanidhren." Dumbledore smiled

"For the last time Dumbledore it's Ron! Honestly, Balanidhren is my official name, like yours is Albus Dumbledore supreme Mugwump blah, blah, blah!" Ron waved his hand in the air as if to wave away the many words that made up Dumbledore's full title. Harry found it funny that Ron was so familiar with Dumbledore. He noticed that now Ron's whole being was screaming with energy, he was almost unable to stay still for more then a few minutes at a time, he looked excited and like he'd had one jumping bean too many. Ron spun on the balls of his feet and leapt up onto the table the elves sat at with surprising grace. Fingers were hastily retracted to avoid being stepped on. Ron walked down till he was halfway down the table and drew from a sheath strapped to his thigh his wand. He raised it expertly and said in the sudden silence.

"The alarm will go off in three, two, one, NOW!" he flicked his wrist and at once the whole hall shook with a loud bell. Harry clapped his hands over his ears and watched as the Heads of Houses all rose first and began to hustle their students out. He and Hermione stood up and followed Mc Gonagall out into the Foyer and then on up to the Gryffindor tower. Once they were inside the noise went away, no need to bother anyone when they were where they were meant to be. Once the last straggler had entered Mc Gonagall called for silence.

"Now, I know you are all very surprised to see Ron Weasley in these kind of circumstances, but I'm sure he'll be able to explain more tomorrow or whenever you have his class. Incidentally since you may not have heard the password as we were entering, it is lembas. That is the elvish waybread you were enjoying at dinner tonight." So saying, she left and at once the room exploded with chatter.

"Sweet Merlin wait till mum finds out what Ron's been up to, she'll freak!" yelled Fred.

"And what about dad?" asked George, "He'll go mad when he finds out that Ron was learning to use swords and bows and stuff. Can you believe it? Ron as some sort of captain of an army! Has the world lost its mind, Ron's no leader."

"Speaking of which look! He's outside!" Ginny called. At once the room went silent and everyone ran over to the windows. They were practically hanging out of the windows to see. Ron certainly looked like a leader, thought Harry, as he commanded the elves to set themselves up while they tended to their horses. In the silence they heard him calling lightly,

"Alright, night watch is thirty elves, fifteen taking the first five hour shift and then switch, Hogsmead is a lesser concern, I want you to use all those elvish senses to keep an eye on the forest, it's the most likely place an orc or Jaffa attack will come from."

"What about the lake?" called one elf, she was standing near Hagrid's.

"Keep an eye on it too, but it's the forest and the sky you need to watch."

"Watch out for flying brooms, invisible horses and evil dragons!" hooted another. The whole group laughed. Harry saw Ron grin and shake his head then he turned to Lady Cilath who was standing beside him. She was staring at the castle and Harry reckoned she was nervous. Why, he did not know. Ron put his hand on her shoulder and they spoke softly. Beside him Hermione tensed. Ron suddenly took the elf by the hand and spun her under his arm, he then looped her arm through his and patted her hand. Harry could just make out his smile, he spoke calmly and then said something that made her whip her arm free and smack him on the arm with an embarrassed laugh. The other elves laughed and one, the dark haired male, Lord Earithramir Harry recalled, cried out

"Never would have thought you'd be scared of a silly castle Cilath."

"A castle made of stone!" she protested although she was smiling. Ron said something softly and reached out, pushing some of her hair out of her face. She smiled broadly and put her hand on his shoulder, leaning in to kiss his cheek. Several elves laughed softly. Harry looked at Hermione warily and saw she was glaring at the two furiously, her eyes blazing. Ron suddenly clapped his hands, called softly and instantly a house elf appeared at his side.

"Is that Dobby?" Hermione asked softly.

"Probably, a house elf needs to be called by name to appear like that." Fred agreed. Ron said something to Dobby and the house elf bowed deeply and then Ron called for the elves to follow Dobby to their rooms to unpack and then the first team would come back out to begin their duties.

"I wonder where they'll sleep." a second year pondered.

"Is there enough room for them?" someone else asked

"Of course there is, the castle is massive, I can name ten places off the top of my head that could hold them all." George waved his hand in the air. The gesture was almost exactly like the gesture Ron had used in the Great Hall to wave away Dumbledore's name.

"He's still down there." hissed Hermione. Looking, Harry saw she was right; Ron was now the only person on the grounds. He walked slowly down the stairs and over the grass. He walked over to the horse that had a mane like his own hair. He stroked the creatures muzzle and then leapt onto its back. He whispered to the creature and it began to trot around, slowly at first and then gradually picking up speed till it went into a full gallop. Ron made it do sharp turns and high leaps over obstacles and other impressive moves. He then galloped till he was in a perfect patch of moonlight, like a spotlight and he came to a stand still. The horse reared up silently and pawed the air furiously and Ron laughed with delight. He let go of the mane, the creature didn't have a rein of any kind, and held his arms out as if to say 'Ta-da' and he looked straight up at them. Harry realised Ron had just put on a show for them, making it clear that he had acquired many new skills over the summer. He realised that they'd been overly obvious in their staring and he was letting them know. Many people retracted their heads, some quick, others more slowly but Harry and Hermione, the twins and Ginny stayed put. Ron grinned and waved up at them. Harry found himself waving back, grinning at his longed for best friend.

Ron dismounted and let the horse walk away slowly after giving it some kind of treat. He then turned from the castle and laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back slightly. His whole form screamed with contentment as he walked away, his gaze on the lake. When he reached the edge of the water he crouched down and cupped some of the water in his hands. He stared at it as it trickled out between his fingers seemingly contemplating it. Eventually he stood up and after one more look up at the Gryffindor tower, he walked back up to the castle. The moonlight shone down on him, cooling his fiery hair, casting a shadow of him on the ground, illuminating the weapons he carried on his back. In the pale light he seemed almost ghostly and as he paused as he reached the threshold, they could only just make him out among the shadows, it almost seemed as if he glowed with the same light as the elves did. He then slipped away, disappearing completely from view. The horses grazed on the grass and their shadows were cast upon the ground mixing with the shadows cast by the trees and the occasional owl as they made their way to the tower. Harry slowly pulled away from the window feeling strangely thoughtful. He said a soft good night to the others and then walked up to his old bedroom that he shared with Neville, Seamus and Dean and had once shared with Ron. No longer would Ron be waking him up or he'd be waking up the youngest Weasley boy. He opened the door and found his three roommates sitting on the ends of their beds, staring at the bed beside the window that belonged to Ron, or once had and was now completely empty. It didn't look right at all. Sadly they would have to bear it, it seemed. Harry wondered where Ron now slept and if he missed sleeping here as much as they missed having him there.

* * *

Aww, Harry's feeling sad.

Night's Darkness


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! People like my story! Well here's the next chapter, the next might not be up for a while, it's written, but it sounds sooo stupid so... /shrugs/

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Ron wandered around the castle and a nostalgic smile played on his lips as he saw all the old familiar things.

"Mew!" He jumped and spun around to find Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat staring up at him with her creepy eyes. He mentally panicked; it was late and if Filch caught him- hang on a second! What was he on about? He was a teacher now, he couldn't get detentions or house points taken off or anything so the cat was no danger to him. He smirked at her even as Argus Filch appeared from behind a tapestry, wheezing and limping.

"Out of bed! That's detention!" he barked eagerly. Ron smiled at him pleasantly.

"To whom are you speaking Mr. Filch?"

"To whom… you boy! Who else?" the old man exclaimed looking at him as if he was mad.

"But how can a Professor have detention?" Ron wondered curiously.

"A professor? What in blazes are you…" the colour suddenly drained out of the Squibs face and he was obviously remembering the fact that Ron was no longer a student. Ron had to admit he was thoroughly enjoying this. "You… of course I'd forgotten that you were…" Filch sounded dazed.

"That's perfectly understandable Mr. Filch, I'm having trouble getting used to it myself." Ron kept his tone perfectly pleasant and friendly, something that was clearly wrong-footing the old man. "Now if you don't mind, would you kindly show me to my room?"

"Of course." Filch nodded and beckoned him forwards. Ron was about to follow him when a voice spoke up to their right.

"No need Mr. Filch, I'll take Ron." Cilath glided out of the shadows, looking like an angel or some other kind of beautiful vision. Filch goggled at her as she took Ron's hand and lead him away. Once they were out of earshot she scolded him "Honestly Ron! You completely staggered the poor man."

"So what? Look Cilath, you don't know Filch like I do. He's been trying to get permission to whip misbehaving students all his life. Poor man nothing. His favourite thing is making students miserable."

"Oh he can't be that bad."

"Oh you naïve beauty." Ron sighed dramatically, "You have no idea how truly horrible he is and I hope to the Valar that you never find out." She sighed and let him wrap his arm around her waist leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Are you happy to be here?" she wondered softly

"Absolutely, I do miss Rivendell but Hogwarts was a second home for me for a long time. It's… comforting to be back here." She smiled at him

"I'm glad to hear that you are so happy, I know your feelings towards your people have been conflicted for some time."

"They still are." he answered honestly, "But the good memories that this place brings have dulled those concerns for now."

"Will you be talking to your friends and family tonight?"

"I've considered it and I've decided to wait till tomorrow, for several reasons. One; I want to be set up, my office and my lesson plans all organised, two; I want to get a good night's sleep so that I'm ready for tomorrow and three; I want to let them stew a little over the stuff I've already said and done." She smiled fondly at his mischievousness and he beamed at her.

"I'm curious, why did you pull out 'Dan and 'Ro and your twin brothers like that?"

"Oh because, they'll be so busy trying to beat each other in pranks they won't have time to prank other people. I'm surprised my mother managed to get them to come back, they can be really stubborn."

"I've got a feeling your mother is more stubborn then the two put together." Cilath smirked.

"This is true! How are you finding the castle?"

"It's horrible! All this stone, it's already driving me mad!"

"Oh you'll get used to it."

"Maybe but I doubt it."

"What about the magic, how is that affecting you?"

"I feel a little light-headed." she admitted, "I can't believe how strong the magic around here is."

"The castle's hundreds of years old, I'd expect nothing less of it. What I can't believe is how sensitive you and the others are to it."

"Lord Elrond warned us about it."

"But still, if you're all affected by it then if orcs or Jaffa attacked then we'd be in trouble."

"Worry not about it. Come mela, our room awaits." she purred in his ear suddenly and pulling from him she seemed to dance away from him, giving him a playful pout, encouraging him to follow her. He gave chase and when they reached their room he caught her and they tumbled onto the bed. They laughed and giggled as they stilled and then Ron rolled onto his back and they lay there side by side. His fingers found her hair and began to run through it slowly. Ron looked over their room; it had a large bed, a wardrobe, a desk, couch and matching chairs. Yet it didn't look like anyone lived in it yet. He made a mental note to take care of that, put up a few photos, and a few posters that he had of the Chudley Cannons and some muggle bands he'd come to favour with help from Revion, Cilath's uncle. Cilath smiled at him and her fingers went to her collar where a necklace lay against her softly glowing skin. It was a beautiful and delicate jewel, elaborate and magical. In the centre of it was a flame which burned bright and strong. It was an ancient necklace, the flame was the spirit of the Greenwood people, which burned bright as long as those with Greenwood blood in their veins carried it and were proud and strong like Greenwood's people. Prince Legolas had given it to his niece two days before she'd left and as Ron stared at her, he saw her eyes drift away as she obviously began to remember the event.

_(Flashback)_

"Cilath come and walk with me." Legolas called, holding his hand out for hers. She smiled at Ron as she left his side and slipped her hand into Legolas'. He led her along the path in silence for a time till they came to a spot in the vast gardens of Rivendell that they often went to together. Legolas stared out at the area, his eyes not truly seeing it as he fell into deep thought. Finally he spoke, his voice as gentle and soft as it had ever been.

"You will be leaving in two days for Hogwarts. A place of stone, Gimli would be pleased." She smiled and let out a soft breath of a chuckle and bowed her head for a second and then lifted it again. "It will be a place of men and women, humans and you and the other elves will be the only ones there."

"Two hundred elves is hardly a small crowd."

"But most of them will be busy on the grounds scouting and ensuring the school is safe. You and Earithramir will spend most of your time with the students, you'll be a model for the way these students view our kind."

"Are you telling me to behave."

"Maybe." He looked down at her and smiled slightly. She smiled back. Then he became serious. "This will be the longest time we have ever gone apart since you were very young. I shall miss you terribly."

"You could still come with us." she insisted softly. He shook his head, grimacing slightly

"A castle made entirely of stone? No thank you! I may visit for a short time, but I have no plans to stay there nine months. I would loose my mind."

"Ron says the grounds are vast."

"No my dear niece, no I shall not go." he said this gently and fondly, "It is not my place. I will remain here." He reached into his pocket and drew from it a small package wrapped in cloth. "I've been waiting for the right time to give you this. Now seems as good a time as any." He unwrapped it and exposed the beautiful necklace within. She gasped lightly, she knew that necklace! She'd seen her aunt Elarinya wear it all the time when she was a child. She remembered touching it when her aunt held her close at night and feeling its warmth. "This is the Flame of Greenwood." Legolas explained as he undid the clasp and then gently set it around her neck. "It represents the fire within every Greenwood elf from Ada to the lowliest servant. It shall burn within that necklace so long as at least one Greenwood elf still draws breath and fights with that fire. The Greenwood royalty have carried it from the start and it has never gone out. Wear it with pride little princess." Princess? That's right she was a princess of Greenwood. It may not exist on the map anymore but its people still lived and followed her grandfather. Cilath often forgot her royal heritage. She gently stroked the delicate yet strong jewel and felt its warmth against her fingertips and upon her skin. She smiled at it and then raised her head to smile at her uncle. He gently stroked her cheek and then kissed her brow. She clasped his hand and then he hugged her. They remained that way for some time then Legolas pulled away and said

"Go and run to Ron. He's looking for you by now." She kissed his cheek and then danced away on her light feet with her uncle smiling after her.

_(End Flashback) _

Cilath smiled and then stood up from the bed. She grabbed her nightdress and threw Ron his pyjamas. He caught them deftly and they both changed. Cilath's nightdress was long and flowing as most of her clothes were, elven style and all. It was sleeveless and had a deep V-neckline. It was a shimmering blue. Ron's was a pair of trousers and a plain t-shirt. Their styles in taste were quite different in normal every day clothes. Ron stared at her in a critical way.

"I wonder what you'd look like in jeans." he mused thoughtfully.

"You've seen me in trousers before." she said

"Not really, you always wear an outer dress over them, with muggle clothing though… I'd really like to see that." She crossed her arms casually and smiled at him

"Well perhaps you will." Ron raised his eyebrows at the suggestion, he hadn't expected her to agree. "Not for a while though my mela." She lay down on the bed and snuggled up to him. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, breathing in her sweet scent. It was like lemons and some kind of flower he couldn't identify. It was soothing and his eyelids drooped in tiredness. They had ridden hard to get here on time, for almost seven hours exhausting riders and horses equally. They'd had no trouble getting through the forest, Ron wasn't sure if that was good luck, something amiss or if the elves connection with nature had saved them, but whatever it was they hadn't seen a single unicorn, giant spider, centaur, thestral or anything else. The elves had thought it strange, Ron had thought it lucky. His eyes slid shut and then he fell asleep.

* * *

Next are the classes, they'll be... erm... interesting /worries/ 

Night's Darkness


	4. Chapter 4

Good God! I'm so sorry, I just got distracted this last month or so with other stories and I was worried about this one, it's taking so long to get anywhere because I have to set up the relationships between everyone. Gah!

Anyway, moving on, here is a new chapter at long last and another will be along soon.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Professor this can't be right." Professor Mc Gonagall looked up sharply at the young man with jet-black, messy hair that stood before her with a piece of parchment in his hand.

"What exactly is not right Mr. Potter?"

"I gave up History, but you've fitted it into my schedule." Harry explained politely, holding out the timetable.

"No Mr. Potter there is no mistake, everyone is being given History this term, it's up to you if you want to continue after Christmas. Since these classes are very different from the last ones you used to have with Professor Binns and you of all people ought to hear what they have to say." Hermione butted in anxiously.

"But elves don't know anything about history of Magic do they?"

"They know more then you give them credit for. They have records that predate anything humans have. They can tell you and all wizards how the tools and spells we use everyday were formed in the beginning." Hermione's expression changed from anxious to eager at once. Harry fought a knowing grin. He checked his schedule again and noted with delight and some apprehension that his first class with Ron was straight after history, which was after break. Fancy Ron teaching him Physical Defence when only last year Harry had been teaching Ron about Magical Defence. He shared a nervous and anxious look with Hermione. The first class they were to have was Transfiguration so they finished their breakfast and went on ahead of Mc Gonagall.

* * *

"Not a very good start. First day and they're late." Hermione huffed as they waited outside Professor Binns old classroom. Harry nodded since it was the only safe option. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Hermione was jealous of this Lady Cilath. Suddenly a light and musical voice called

"The door is open! Come in already!" Startled they pushed the door open. Harry didn't recognise the room at all. The desks and chairs were much nicer then they were before, with cushions on the seat and back of each chair. The room was decorated with different items ranging from strange maps to different kinds of weapons and the windows were all thrown open widely as if to bring in some life to the room. There was a blackboard as usual at the back of the wall behind a teacher's desk. Seated on the desk were Lady Cilath and Lord Earithramir. Lord Earithramir sat crossed legged and Lady Cilath was leaning against him. Both had their noses embedded in a magazine. The Quibbler! They were whispering softly to each other as if having a major discussion. The class filed in and everyone tried to grab the front seats. Harry and Hermione managed to grab seats in the second row. Harry wondered how they had managed to get a copy of the magazine. He guessed Luna could have dropped it last night in the commotion and they picked it up. Lord Earithramir slapped the magazine shut and leaned back to set it in a drawer. Lady Cilath hopped off the desk gracefully and smiled at them.

"Welcome." she said cheerfully, her sapphire eyes shining brightly. "My name as you already know is Cilath. This is Earithramir. I know Professor Dumbledore called us lord and lady but please don't yourselves. We are barely out of our childhood. We are young. Earithramir is nearing his 1,500th begetting date as am I so we are still very young."

"Some of our elders would even call us younger then you here." Earithramir laughed, enjoying the shock Cilath's words had created.

"That's only Lady Galadrial and she's one of the oldest elves there is. I think she's almost nearing her 10,000th year now."

"I thought older."

"Well I don't know!" Cilath exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "Why don't you ask 'Dan and 'Ro. They are her grandchildren."

"Hm, this is true although how they are related still baffles me."

"Oh enough Earithramir, you are distracting me."

"Oh a thousand apologies dear Cilath do forgive me!"

"Oh shut up!" she snapped but she was smiling at him fondly.

"I will after I comment that in fact calling you lady is inaccurate since you are a princess." Harry felt his jaw drop as Cilath whirled around and sharply slapped Earithramir's arm crying his name in exasperation. He laughed and smirked at her triumphantly. She rolled her eyes then shrugged as if to say 'oh well'.

"Lets try to get back to the topic at hand, shall we? Now this class is going to be about facts that predate anything you have studied before. We will be discussing also how the past affects the present, how the enemies of the past are once again threatening us."

"We'll be talking about how our two peoples once shared the same lands before they were then separated, we will teach you of our history that your kind have had roles in, like the Fellowship of the Ring-"

"The what?" scorned Hermione.

"The Fellowship of the Ring!" Earithramir exclaimed "The Nine Walkers! Gandalf, Frodo, Samwise, all of them!"

"Don't forget mellon nin, we took all that information with us." Cilath said patiently

"Well maybe so but still" Earithramir huffed looking disgruntled. "Never heard of the Fellowship…" he muttered audibly.

"You knew that they didn't know, because Ron didn't know before he met us."

"Hm… I suppose." Earithramir still seemed annoyed "I guess I'm just used to Ron knowing all these things."

"Yes well by the end of the term so will they." Cilath shook her head, her long golden hair making a soft swishing noise. "Anyway, we'd better get started, now Professor Mc Gonagall told me that we had to call this list out to confirm everyone was here." She looked it over and then set it down. "Since it's the first day back, I don't think there's any real point of bogging down with facts so early, we'll have plenty of time, besides, I want to see if I can guess who you are from what Ron has told us."

"Oh Valar." muttered Earithramir resting his elbow on his knee and then resting his chin in his hand. Cilath's eyes swept over the class and then she pointed at Neville.

"You are Neville Longbottom aren't you?" Neville looked stunned probably more for the fact that the radiant beauty was speaking to him.

"Uh, yeah, how did you-?"

"Oh I knew you have to be him, Ron told me you were amazing at Herbology and elves are very sensitive to nature, you were easy to pick out." Neville blushed furiously but he looked happy. Harry felt himself smile, that was a nice thing for Cilath to do, pick Neville first and letting him know that Ron had been praising him. Hermione looked a little less disgruntled. Cilath once more studied the class and her eyes landed on Hermione.

"Hermione Granger I bet." Hermione nodded slowly, "I thought so, you look just like Ron described you and I can see that you have great intelligence within you." Hermione despite herself went a little pink. "And the young man beside you must be Harry Potter." Harry blushed brightly. Oddly both Cilath and Earithramir stared at him with a strange look, as if they weren't sure if they approved of him or not. "Ron's best friend." Cilath added softly, her eyes regarding him carefully. She gave his scar the barest of glances before she returned to the class and Hermione sent him a bewildered gaze. Cilath continued her guesses and got everyone right, much to their surprise. She and Earithramir were fascinated by Dean Thomas' and Parvati Patil's dark skin, claiming that they'd never seen such dark skin before, all elves were pale apparently. They thought it was lovely on them, much to the embarrassment of both.

"Kinthia had darker skin then normal." Earithramir commented thoughtfully.

"That was only slight though, nowhere near as dark as Dean and Parvati." Cilath said a flash of pain going through her eyes as she spoke. She was suddenly silent and looked out the window. Earithramir gave himself a slight punch of punishment and he quickly changed the subject.

"So do you have any questions for us?" At once hands shot up into the air. He raised his eyebrows, eyes widening slightly. "Wow, alright, uh Neville."

"Are you really 1,500 years old?" Cilath turned back and smiled at him with an oddly fond expression.

"Yes we are around that. We're very young for our people."

"How old do you live to?" Hermione asked

"We are immortal, we live forever." This was said with an oddly wistful tone.

"Lucky you."

"Not really, we have to see all the sadness and the hardships of this world occurring. We watched as your lands were ravaged by poverty, disease, war, getting worse and worse by the century… not exactly what I'd call lucky." Cilath sighed as she sat on the desk, for the first time Harry noticed her feet were bare.

"I suppose that's true. Couldn't you have done something about it?" asked Seamus

"Like what? Suddenly shown up on your shores and say 'stop this at once it is wrong?' Can't you imagine the panic that would have caused? Not even wizards believed in us and they didn't do anything to stop the wars of muggles either."

"But we're not allowed interfere in the affairs of muggles."

"And neither are we allowed to interfere in the affairs of humans, until now."

"How do you mean?"

"Well for a long time, almost 6000 years to be more exact, we have remained on Valinor, our homeland. Then a few years ago, I believe the year you started at this school in fact, we suddenly felt the call to return to this land. It wasn't easy, I can tell you. Between hiding from those who didn't believe in magic at all or if they do it's all a romanticised idea of it, and our enemies the Goa'uld-"

"The who?"

"That will be explained soon enough by Ron, he'll tell you all about it in your class with him and then we'll give you the history of it. Anyway, we also had to learn how muggles lived and how wizards lived in order to blend in as best we could." Harry felt his lips twitch; the elves would have stood out as much as Dumbledore did, and he doubted they would have been able to blend in. Parvati shyly raised her hand. Earithramir pointed to her silently.

"Can you all fight with swords and bows and all of those things?"

"Yes we all are trained in combat, although these days arrows and swords are of little use since our enemies have taken to using more advanced equipment, using minerals to power staff weapons and the like."

"This is all stuff I don't believe many of you would understand yet, except maybe those born of non-magical families. It's to do with science and technology, not much magic is involved."

"But I thought the new enemy was allied with Voldemort!" blurted Harry.

"They are." Cilath nodded

"But Voldemort is a bigot who hates anything to do with muggles, including technology, he only believes and trusts in magic."

"Well maybe but his allies are not so foolish. They know of the capabilities muggles actually have. For the things you flick your wand for they have built great machines to do the same. They are achieving things you have never even truly considered. You look at the stars and identify them with old thoughts, Orion and his belt, the planets and their moons with the location imperative to what? The Art of Divination?" The words were scornful towards the end. "Those you call muggles look up at the stars and wonder if there is life there, wonder if the spaceships and probes they've sent out have discovered anything previously unknown. They study the science behind everything and I believe it is because they simply must adhere to the laws of nature and physics far more rigidly then any wizard or elf does and humans are uncanny in their curiosity, particularly those without magic." Harry felt himself smile, and looking around he noticed that those of his class who were muggle born looked very pleased. She was definitely someone he didn't mind having for a teacher. Earithramir suddenly jumped to his feet and walked around the room to the windows. He leaned out and took in a deep breath of air. When he came back in he groaned

"These walls are driving me nuts!" and gripped his hair for emphasis.

"I know what you mean." Cilath's forehead creased and she pushed some of her hair back. "Cut off from nature like this, how do humans stand it?"

"If they are anything like Ron then they must be deaf!"

"Humans aren't deaf." exclaimed Lavender

"Well you can't hear the trees singing can you?" They shook their heads. "Then you're deaf to nature. We on the other hand are not and stone is not something we like. Being surrounded by it… argh!" Earithramir exclaimed in frustration. Cilath sat back on the desk and put a hand to her head.

"The magic in this place is making me light headed." she added. Earithramir nodded in agreement.

"I wish I was out there with the others." He pointed outside to the forest. "I'd love to explore that place a bit more. Now I know how Legolas felt when he was in Fangorn Forest."

"Oh believe me you don't want to go in there." Harry assured him.

"Why ever not?" Earithramir asked bewildered.

"There's all kinds of dangerous monsters in there. Acromantula for example, the giant spiders are not fun to be around."

"And you'd know all about that wouldn't you Harry?" Cilath asked sweetly, an acid undertone in her voice. Harry wondered why she didn't seem to like him, as far as he knew he'd done nothing wrong. Had Ron said something bad about him? Nah! Ron wouldn't do that.

"Well I suppose I would since I had to escape from them with Ron in our second year."

"Yes Ron told us about the little adventures you three went on." Earithramir glided up the room giving them a glance. "Chasing Lord Voldemort, going looking for giant snakes, dealing with dangerous criminals, fighting Voldemort and running headlong into danger and a certain trap." Harry scowled, it hadn't been like that, what did they know?

"It wasn't like that at all!" exclaimed Hermione and Neville at once. The elves looked at them questioningly. "We did what we had to do."

"Because you were the only ones who could do it?" Cilath raised a fair eyebrow sceptically.

"Well Dumbledore wasn't around and Professor Mc Gonagall wouldn't believe us when we told her about the Philosophers Stone. And we tried to tell Lockhart about the Chamber of Secrets but-"

"And you knew about the Chamber how?"

"Because Hermione figured out that it was a Basilisk that was inside the Chamber and Ron and I figured out where it was because we went into the forest on Hagrid's advice to talk to the spiders and found out that Moaning Myrtle was the girl who died the last time." Harry heard several people gasp. He'd forgotten about the rest of the class who were all listening attentively. He decided he'd said enough, and asked "Has Ron been telling you this bad stuff?"

"No he hasn't." Cilath answered sharply, "He's just told us the stories, he hasn't been negative about them, however…" she paused and shared a look with Earithramir who gave his head a slight shake, "this, I suppose, doesn't matter anymore it's been done and nothing can change it."

"And they do make for good story time." Earithramir shrugged. Harry scowled. He suddenly liked these elves less. Hermione was also scowling. Cilath sighed and put a hand to her forehead, grimacing in pain.

"If we're this bad imagine how poor Lomli is doing, he's far more sensitive to magic then us."

"But he at least is outside."

"I suppose…" Cilath shook her head and then suddenly screeched, as she was abruptly drenched with water. A little man cackled above their heads and sang,

"_Oh little miss perfect how do you do,_

_Prancing around to show you're a fool,_

_Noises at night come, loud and clear,_

_When sleep is in order you can be heard_

_Moaning and groaning, naughty sounds are made loud,_

_Give Peeves a go and he'll make you scream,_

_Peevesy is better then your melamin!"_

Cilath was blushing madly and looking horrified almost in tears.

"Get out of here you demon! Garich i dhôl goll o Orch!" spat Earithramir, looking furious. Peeves blew a raspberry at him, made a lewd gesture at Cilath and then shot out of the room. Poor Cilath looked miserable and very wet. Her eyes were filled with tears of embarrassment. Harry suddenly felt very sorry for her, this could not be more embarrassing for her. Hermione clucked her tongue in sympathy and stood up with her wand raised.

"Here, let me dry you off." she said softly. With a quick wave of her wand Cilath's hair and dress were dry. She looked very shocked at the suddenness of it and then nodded in thanks. Her cheeks were a very delicate pink now and her fingers were griping the edge of her desk tightly.

"Oh ignore him mellon nin." Earithramir said soothingly. "His head is as empty as an orcs."

"It's just Peeves Miss Cilath." said Neville, "He's always like that." That was a bit of a lie, Harry couldn't remember ever hearing Peeves say such a rude thing to anyone. Cilath brushed her hair out of her face and then pulled it back, tying it into a ponytail with a ribbon. She took in a deep breath and then smiled slightly.

"Hannon le." she said to them, "He just caught me off guard I think."

"Peeves is a poltergeist, he's always causing trouble. He'll probably do that sort of thing to a lot of people. He loves to target the new people."

"I'll get Dan and Ro to sort him out for you." Earithramir smiled, squeezing her shoulder. She nodded and smiled more.

"Hannon le. What does that mean?" asked Hermione curiously

"Thank you in Sindarin. It's one of two elvish languages, the other is Quenya. It's the more formal language and few people speak it these days."

"The words are so nice. Could you teach us a few?"

"Of course. In fact we'll teach you some and you can say it to Ron when you see him. He'll like that."

"Can Ron speak elvish?"

"Both kinds. He's a gift for languages." Cilath smiled fondly.

"Well let's start with a simple greeting." Earithramir said. Harry found himself smiling, he couldn't help but like the elves, they were just so light hearted and friendly, he set aside the earlier argument deeming it a simple misunderstanding.

"Ok repeat after me, Suilaid."

"Soo-ih-lied." The class repeated slowly.

"Good, it means simply, greetings."

"That was easy though, lets try something a little harder. Im gelir ceni ad lín."

"Eem ge-lir-" the class struggled with the pronunciation.

"No," Cilath laughed lightly, "Eem geh-leer keh-nee ahd leen." she said it slowly and the class repeated it. "Hermione you try it."

"Im gelir ceni ad lín." She said perfectly.

"Brilliant. That means I am happy to see you again. You can say it to Ron. When do you have his class?"

"It's next."

"Oh! Well good luck." The bell went and the students stood up. "Hurry now you don't want to be late." They nodded as one and ran out of the classroom.

* * *

Cilath waited till the door had shut and she then let the tears pool in her eyes again.

"Oh Cilath don't!" Earithramir exclaimed, hugging her.

"I can't help it Earithramir, that thing-"

"Is meaningless."

"But if he sings that again, people are going to thing I'm some sort of… of whore!" She hiccupped as she fought a sob.

"No they won't Cilath, ignore it, he can't do anything to you."

"But he said-"

"Forget it mellon nin."

"He made such a fool of me in front of the students."

"And he will pay for it, I promise you. No one makes fun of you except me and I wouldn't never say that sort of thing to you." She giggled slightly and leaned against him.

"Hannon le Earithramir. What would I do without you?"

"Be very bored." Earithramir smirked,

"True, true." They pulled apart, as there was a knock on the door. "Oh our next class is here."

"This one will go fine." Earithramir assured her

"I know." She smiled at him, "This class is first years."

* * *

"Oh my head!" groaned Lomli, clutching his head in agony. "I finally know what it's like to have too much spice wine." Ron winced in sympathy at his assistant and friend.

"I can't believe how sensitive you are to magic Lomli." he exclaimed. "None of the others are having as hard a time as you are, at least as far as I know."

"I've always been sensitive to magic of any kind." Lomli moaned, "Until now I always liked that fact." Ron smiled at him kind-heartedly and said wisely

"Ya línna ambanna tulinuva nan." _(What goes up must come down)_

"Oh shut up!" Lomli gripped. Ron frowned slightly and cocked his head to the side, his hands on his hips.

"Is it my imagination or are you starting to sound distinctly British?"

"Huh?"

"You seemed to be acquiring a British accent." Ron repeated.

"Am I?"

"Just a little, the way you said shut up was very British."

"Yes, well, I suppose listening to you and the others would do that. In case you haven't noticed you now speak with a distinctly elvish accent."

"I do?"

"Mm-hm. I noticed it yesterday because I was hearing all these voices with one accent and yours seemed different, like a mix of ours and theirs." Ron pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows as he absorbed this information. "Oh! Look who's coming." Lomli grinned at him. Ron turned slightly to look over his shoulder. He smirked as he saw Harry and Hermione coming down, they were dressed in casual clothes, unlike Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who were dressed in fancy clothes, their hair done and make up in place.

_Oh Valar!'_ He resisted the urge to shake his head or roll his eyes. Following was the Hufflepuffs, the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins. Malfoy was looking most smug and Ron felt his stomach tighten in loathing. They headed straight for him and he sighed irritably. He'd told them specifically not to enter the area he'd sectioned off without his authority. Did they think his orders didn't apply to them? Obviously they did. Well he wasn't about to put up with it; he'd had enough of the crap from wizards. He drew his wand and threw up a shield spell. They all stopped in alarm.

"What did I say?" he snapped, "What did I tell you only last night?" They stared at him gob-smacked and Ron felt his lips want to smirk. He fought the feeling. "I told you to wait near Hagrid's didn't I? Yet here you come straight over to me as if my orders don't matter. Suppose I'd set it so that arrows were shot at anyone who entered the space? What would have happened? Someone would have ended up with an arrow through their head! That's what! Now get over to Hagrid's! NOW!" They all ran over to the hut, even Malfoy and his little group and Ron heard Lomli chuckle. He narrowed his eyes at his elf friend and the laughter died straight away. Lomli knew he wasn't messing around. The class was huddled near the pumpkin patch, Ron was glad he'd convinced Hagrid to bring in Buckbeak/Witherwings so as not to arouse suspicion among the year that would no doubt remember him best. Malfoy would definitely cause trouble for him and Hagrid if he knew. He gave them a moment to get themselves calm and then walked over, his hands behind his back. He stared at them hard and said curtly, "Now you may enter." He turned away and walked back to Lomli who was now on his feet, at attention. He waited for them to be in front of him and then said more kindly, "You can sit down for now." They sat on the ground and Ron sat on the boulder Lomli had only just vacated. He crossed his legs and rested his hands on his knees. "Now I hope you won't forget that warning again." They all nodded or shook their heads in assurance that they wouldn't. They seemed unsure if they could speak. He smiled "It's good to see you all again."

'_Well maybe not Malfoy.'_ he mused to himself.

"Im gelir ceni ad lín." The Gryffindors said smiling back relaxing now. Ron laughed,

"Cilath and Earithramir should be teaching you history, not elvish." He suddenly clapped a hand to his forehead. "By Eru I've forgotten my manners, allow me to introduce Lomli, my friend who has kindly agreed to assist me. Should I not be here he will take the class any way." Lomli gave a small bow and smiled at them. Lavender sighed and her head tilted to the side slightly. _'Oh Eru!'_ Ron chuckled inwardly. Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were whispering to each other and sniggering. Lomli was ignoring them.

"Ron, where have you been?" Harry asked, clearly unable to keep quiet.

"Rivendell Harry! The House of Elrond." he answered.

"Where's that?"

"It's not on the map I'm afraid."

"Have you spent the whole summer learning how to fight?" Harry was staring at him in fascination. Ron would admit that he enjoyed this.

"That and more, learning things about myself, our kind's history, how to be a tactician, lots of things." He grinned at their impressed looks. The Slytherins were scowling at him and he tried not to scowl back. He turned his head to smile at Lomli and Hermione let out a scream.

"RON!" His head whipped around and his hand went for his long knives.

"What?" he asked sharply.

"Your neck!" Hermione exclaimed and pointed at his neck, just under his jaw. He frowned in confusion and then reached up and his fingers traced the scar there.

"Oh that." he said nonchalantly.

"Oh that? Ron that's a bloody scar on your throat! What happened?" yelled Harry.

"I was attacked and someone tried to slit my throat. I was lucky someone found me when they did." Ron shrugged, he wasn't trying to be laid-back about it but since he'd seen so much that was worse, it didn't affect him anymore. They almost all stared at him wide-eyed and scared. The Slytherins looked intrigued and disappointed at the fact that the attacker hadn't succeeded.

"Who attacked you?"

"No idea, never saw them, happened early on in my training so I wasn't able to react quick enough. Their hands were invisible."

"Invisible?"

"Yeah, I felt them but saw nothing." He saw they were really getting distressed and said soothingly, "Look don't worry about it, it's part of the job, I'm fine, life goes on. If we lived in fear of everything we'd never live at all." Lomli nodded in agreement. "Now, to more important matters." Ron jumped to his feet, "This class will involve teaching you the basics of defending yourself with and without weapons. Now before I go any further, does anyone have any experience at all fighting?" Lavender raised her hand shyly

"I've done kickboxing."

"Any belt in the sport?"

"Uh, green." Ron would admit he was surprised. "But it was ages ago, before I started at Hogwarts." she added hurriedly

"I'm sure your mind may have forgotten the skills, but I doubt your body has." Lomli smiled. She blushed. Ron nodded, itching to roll his eyes.

"Anyone else?" Dean raised his hand and said, shrugging,

"I did karate for a little while."

"Ok, no one else?" No one raised their hand, "Ok that's fine, don't worry, we'll be starting with basic movements, trust me, you'll get it in no time." Granted it may take longer since they were only doing this once a week, unlike him who'd done it intensively every single day for two months. "Ok Lomli and I will show you what we hope you will be able to do by the end of the year." He and Lomli turned and faced each other and got into fighting stances. Ron moved first, jabbing with his right hand and using a left hook. Lomli managed to avoid the first one and the second grazed him across the cheek. He returned the favour with a swift right side kick, which planted itself in Ron's side, making him grunt. Several people gasped in horror. The elf and human continued to spare, moving so fast it was hard to keep up and both getting in some impressive punches. Ron finally scissor kicked Lomli's legs out from under him and knocked him to the ground. Hermione squealed in shock. Ron pinned him and counted to three. He then got up and smirked at his embarrassed friend.

"I hate that damn scissor kick of yours!" he complained loudly as he brushed his shoulder clear of dust.

"Oh blame Sircyn, he's the one who taught it to me." Ron smirked at him and he glared back.

"I will punch him for it!" Lomli swore, "It always gets me."

"Maybe you just need to pay more attention instead of dreaming about certain fellow elves." Lomli went a delicate pink and his lips twisted into a small smile of amusement and embarrassment. Ron gave him a light punch on the arm and then said to the class, "Hopefully that's what you'll be able to do by the end of the year. As for using weapons, we'll learn the basics of each one and once you've mastered them we may go into more advanced skills." Ron's eyes flicked to Harry and he instantly saw the confident smile on his face, Harry wasn't worried about sword skills, he'd fought a Basilisk with one. Unfortunately that, at least as far as Ron was concerned, was just pure luck. Harry had no real idea how to use a sword, especially the heavier kinds he and the elves used, the sword of Godric Gryffindor was impressive, but it was far lighter and flimsier then Andúril was. Ron let his fingers toy with the hilt as he thought this. He was so used to having the weapon on his hip, it was like a part of him now. "Even if you've tried using a sword for whatever reason I doubt you'll find these swords easy to use, they are heavy and they are dangerous. So in the beginning you'll have to make do with sticks. As for bows and arrows, the arrows will be blunt in the beginning, being shot at soft targets and then by the end you should be able to use arrows like these." Ron whipped out an arrow and strung his bow so fast that it took them a second to even realise he was armed. "We'll need to work on your reflexes too." he added softly. He lowered the bow and returned the arrow to his quiver. He looked over the small crowd of teenagers. Some looked eager, others were nervous and a couple were just plain scared. Malfoy looked bored.

'_We have a lot of work to do.' _

"Alright! Up on your feet and we'll get started! Just a few movements and the like." They got to their feet and he showed them the stance. Good thing he started slow because a few couldn't get the stance right. He and Lomli corrected them and while Lomli was taking care of a blushing Parvati, Ron went over to Harry, "Harry get your hand up, your leaving your face expose!" he pushed the arm as he spoke, covering Harry's face with his fist. "Bend your knees." he ordered and pushed on his shoulder. As he did he got a really good idea of how tall he'd gotten, he was a head and neck taller then Harry even though Harry had clearly grown a fair bit himself. He'd always been taller then Harry but now he was towering over him, and so were the elves. Ron wondered at that.

'_Must be the elvish blood I've got in my veins.'_ he mused to himself as he studied Harry's face carefully, he seemed normal enough, although that familiar darkness in his eyes seemed larger. Ron had always noticed it, and he knew it was because of Sirius. He stepped back and check Harry's stance,

"On the balls of your feet not your heels mellon nin." he said softly. Harry looked at him in bewilderment at the elvish. Ron just smiled at him fondly and stepped away. He checked the group and was pleased to note that everyone had the stance right now. Proper stance was vital and the sooner it became second nature to them the better. He nodded and then he showed them different punches and kicks that made up the very basics of fighting. He winced at some of the mistakes they made and hurried to correct them and by the end of the hour and a half he was very glad to hear the bell, although he tried to hide it. He was very relieved that he only had to teach a class once a day so he was free most of the time. He bid his old classmates goodbye and then put on his cloak and went over to Hagrid's hut. He raised his fist and knocked on the door. Hagrid didn't answer it but Ron knew he was in there.

"Oh dear." Lomli clucked his tongue sadly as he joined him.

"What?"

"You were talking with Professor Mc Gonagall and didn't see what happened earlier, Hagrid came out and he was all excited about his class… but no one showed up. He went into his hut and he hasn't come out."

"Oh no! Harry! Hermione! I know it was them he was expecting, oh bloody hell oh no! Poor Hagrid." he said sympathetically. He turned back to the door and knocked louder, "Hagrid? Hagrid! It's Ron, open the door, please." There was the sound of barking and scratching on the door and then a whine was heard but no one came out. "Oh Hagrid don't hide from me, I want to talk." he pleaded. Finally the door slid open and Hagrid grunted,

"C'mon in." he then went back to his table where a large mug of tea sat. Ron motioned for Lomli to follow and they both entered.

"You remember Lomli, right Hagrid?" he asked to strike up conversation.

"Yer with that other elf, Earithramir aren't ye."

"How does everyone know about that?" Lomli exclaimed as they sat down around the table.

"You were never very subtle in Rivendell mellon nin, although I'll ask that you be so here, the students don't need to suffer the trauma of walking in on you two like I have." Lomli pretended to pout and Hagrid snorted with laughter. Ron smiled at his massive friend and asked

"How's Grawp?"

"Oh he's doing great, he's learning loads. I'm thinkin' o' training him up as me assistant." Ron raised his red eyebrows but said nothing except

"Wow." He had never seen Grawp personally but he could imagine from Harry and Hermione's descriptions. Lomli smiled slightly. "Erm Hagrid? Is Grawp still in the forest?"

"Nah, Dumbledore found him a nice cave nearby, he likes it there."

"Good, that's great!" It was, Ron had been worried what would happen if the elves ran into Grawp, especially if he still had a hobby of pulling up trees, something not even the most tolerant of elves would be able to stand since they could hear the trees screaming for help.

"Yeh, course, there's not much point o' having an assistant if there's no class to teach is there?" Hagrid grumbled.

"Oh Hagrid don't! I'm sure they just couldn't fit it into their timetable. They'd have needed Time Turners and we smashed the lot when we were at the ministry. Please don't feel sad Hagrid." Instead of looking more cheerful Hagrid burst into very noisy tears. Ron, aghast, quickly began to pat Hagrid on the shoulder and said, "C'mon Hagrid what's really the matter?"

"It, it's Aragog!" Hagrid wailed. Ron's eyes widened at the severe flashbacks he was getting at the very mention of the giant spider he and Harry had met in second year. "He's sick, I think he's dying."

"Oh dear." Ron said sympathetically, "Are you sure?"

"He's been ill over the summer and I dunno Ron, the other spiders are getting itchy, something's up with him." Ron smiled consolingly,

"I know you love him Hagrid, but he is old by spider standards, isn't he? You can't deny he's had a long and… fulfilling life." What would count as fulfilling to a spider was beyond him but it seemed to perk Hagrid up. "Look at the colony he's established, no spider could have done better. Don't be sad if the inevitable happens, if he's ill it's probably better he dies sooner rather then later, so as not to suffer to much. We'll all die someday." Hagrid snorted tearfully and jerked his large thumb at Lomli,

"He won't, neither will them other elves."

"We will eventually die Hagrid." Lomli corrected, "We shall die when the world finishes its story, that is our destiny. We are to witness the story, having little involvement in it, humans on the other hand… they are the story."

"Nonsense Lomli!" Ron said dismissively, "Every character has a part to play in Arda's story, be it little or small. Even the elves are not exempt from playing some part. Look at Legolas." Lomli pursed his lips thoughfully,

"Never really thought of that." he muttered,

"Anyway Hagrid, the reason I wanted to see you was to invite you for a walk in the Forest, I was hoping that you'd tell me the location of the different nests and burrows, like the centaur area where they mainly spend their time, the unicorns, the uh, spiders."

"Me? Why not take an elf they'd be better at it wouldn't they, what with all their nature connections."

"None of them know this forest like you Hagrid, I can't think of any better person for the job." Hagrid seemed to swell with pride and he stood up.

"Alright, just let me get Fang."

"Erm, could you perhaps not take him with you, Maedd's the one in charge of the closest platoon, and he doesn't like your pet." Lomli said awkwardly, "It's only because Fang tackled him and slobbered all over his face last night, but uh, probably best you don't annoy him."

"Agreed." Ron nodded, although his brow creased in a scowl. He still wasn't on good terms at all with Maedd. He fought a growl and smiled at Hagrid, "C'mon Hagrid, I want to get going."

"Alrigh', alrigh' I'm coming." he said, grabbing his crossbow.

"Is that necessary?" Lomli asked nervously.

"Just a precaution." Hagrid grunted

"Trust me mellon nin, you can't take too many precautions in this forest." Ron said sincerely repressing a shudder. "Hey Hagrid, you haven't seen a blue car driving around on its own in there have you"

"Couple o' times, it's yer dads isn't it?"

"Well yes." he shrugged sheepishly.

"Well it's doing well."

"Hang on! I thought a car was a machine." Lomli exclaimed, "One that uses oil to run, how can it be driving on it's own, it's just a machine."

"Magic can have the oddest results that not even the wisest can predict at times."

"So the car's sentient?"

"In a way." Lomli seemed to think about this for a moment and then finally said blankly,

"…How strange." Hagrid chuckled.

"Well we best be off." he said importantly, puffing his massive chest out.

"Yes of course, lead on Hagrid." Ron gestured with his arm and Hagrid lead them to the forest.

* * *

Aw poor Hagrid, you gotta love him, he's such a sweetie.

Night's Darkness


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry this took so long, but I am working on it I swear. Anyway, moving on, in this chappie, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and the twins confront Ron about his new lifestyle.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The room was a contrasting display of reflecting light and shadows. Ancient hieroglyphs were engraved in the gold covered walls but there was artificial lighting as well as torches. This room wasn't a throne room, it was a lab. Scientists with their clinical and cold eyes were studying samples, experimenting on specimens, learning more secrets. A door opened and the familiar clanking of a Jaffa's footsteps echoed as he entered the room. One scientist looked up and approached him.

"Lord Osiris wishes for a report on the gene project." The scientist nodded and he spoke, his voice deep and flanged,

"_**It is becoming more problematic then I had originally anticipated to isolate the specific gene that they possess, however I believe we are close."**_

"How long?"

"_**I would prefer not to predict."**_

"What you would prefer is not my concern. How long?" the Jaffa was cold and dangerous. The scientist sighed and said

"**_To be frank it could take years."_** At once the Jaffa raised his staff weapon and pointed it at him. He eyed it nervously,

"You do not have years." he said commandingly, "So I believe it would be best if you hurry your efforts."

"**_Of course. We shall do everything we can to please our god."_** The scientist bowed.

"See that you do." the Jaffa sneered and then left. The scientist breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to the others in the room who were staring at him.

"**_What are you staring at? Get back to work!"_ **At once they obeyed, not fool enough to disobey. **_"Hebron! Come here!"_** A young man detached himself from the group and came up to him. **_"Go and get another sample from the pure specimen."_**

"**_At once."_** Hebron bowed and hurried away, grabbing a Zat'nikatel and syringe. He walked to the brig and as the door opened he stunned the prisoner who groaned and collapsed to the ground. He approached and then quickly took a sample of blood from him before he was able to move again. He noted how the once immaculate hair was now a mess and smirked in amusement. **_"Now Lucius I'm sure you'll know better for next time Voldemort gives you a job to do. Don't mess it up!"_ **Lucius groaned and then managed to snarl weakly,

"If I had my wand…"

"**_But you don't, so there is no point in making threats to me."_** he smirked broadly at him and then left the brig leaving him to pick himself off the ground.

* * *

"We need to talk to Ron in private." Ginny said, she didn't sound pleased with Hermione and Harry's recount of their class. "We need to ask him why he agreed to go along with this."

"Calm down Ginny, I'm sure he has a good reason."

"Hermione, this my brother Ron we are talking about, he just does things without thinking. He probably just thought it's be fun to learn how to fight and now he's stuck in this job."

"Chill Ginny, we can talk to him when we've finished eating." Fred said as he shoved another forkful into his mouth.

"How can you be so calm?" she cried so loudly that many people turned to look at her, including a few elves, who seemed to have been listening to them from the beginning. "Our brother has been trained to kill and you just sit there stuffing your face!"

"All right, all right keep your hair on!" George exclaimed, "We're coming, we're coming!" The four of them stood up and followed her out to the Great Foyer. "So where is Ron's office?"

"The old Defence Against the Dark Arts office?"

"Nah! That's Slughorn's." Harry scratched the back of his head in thought.

"Oh! Excuse me!" Hermione called to an elf who was walking past. He stopped and glowered at them, making Hermione falter, "Erm could you tell us where Ron's office is?" His eyes narrowed in what could easily have been anger. Harry noticed he was pale even by the elves standards. His hair was so blond it was almost white and his eyes were a pale sky blue.

"No I have no idea where the fool is." he sneered, "Nor do I honestly care."

"Hey, that's not polite!" Fred said obviously. The elf rolled his eyes at him,

"I'd expect the siblings of such a pathetic being to be as equally loud, coarse, stupid and red headed!"

"Maedd!" snapped a voice that made them all whirl around. Lomli strode over silently and he was scowling deeply, "Maedd, tampa tanya." he said coolly. Maedd scoffed,

"Mankoi? Amin uuma malia nia edanea." Maedd looked as if he had much more to say but Lomli seemed to loose his temper completely and practically yelled,

"Farn! Dina! Antolle ulua sulrim a amin uuma merna ta. Kela! Amin feuya ten'lle. Dolle naa lost. Tessa sina delu hún, amin uuma malia." Maedd, and indeed the teens, who were also present, were staring at him in utter shock even though only one understood what he was saying. Maedd opened his mouth to say something, but Lomli was glaring at him so fiercely he clearly thought the better of it. He looked at the teens again with furious looks and his pale cheeks turned the faintest of pink.

"Amin autien rath." he muttered softly finally. So saying he walked away up the steps as fast as he could. Lomli was panting faintly and his cheeks were slightly coloured too. When Maedd disappeared he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'd avoid him if I were you." he said to Harry and the others. "He's not the easiest person to get along with and he's… going through a rough patch right now."

"I'd say it's a bit bigger then a patch." George muttered. Lomli smiled faintly and said

"What were you asking him anyway?"

"We were wondering where Ron was."

"He's in his office I think, had to answer a letter from Lord Elrond."

"And his office would be where?" Lomli smiled a little wider at them,

"Follow me." He beckoned with his hand and they followed him up the main stairs. Harry found himself wince with each footstep because of their seer volume compared to the silent step of Lomli. The others seemed to be thinking along the same lines, although Ginny and Hermione were gazing at Lomli with small smiles. He seemed aware of them but was ignoring them too. Harry felt himself smile at this. "Here it is." Lomli gestured to a door, beside a tapestry depicting a battle between the chiefs of the Mac Boons and the Mc Cliverts. Lomli knocked on the door and they heard Ron call

"It's open! Come on in!" Lomli opened the door and gestured again for them to precede him. Once they were all in he shut the door. Harry looked around the room. It was large and decorated with the oddest arrangement of items. There was a sword with engraving along the curved blade on the wall and beside it was a poster of a band Harry recognised as a muggle one. They were all in black and the one in the foremost of the picture had crow feathers in his hair. Underneath the men the name of the band 'The Rasmus' was emblazoned in gothic writing. Looking around Harry saw a Cudley Cannons poster near a drawing of three people, Cilath, Earithramir and Lomli all sitting together. Many more pictures and posters covered the walls along with a few more weapons but that was what jumped out at Harry at the moment. There was a fancy fireplace with mahogany wood, but it was empty at present. Around it were large soft couches and chairs, in the middle of which was a coffee table. In one corner were books, some ancient, some very new and a few scrolls. Ron's weapons were all displayed on the wall right next to the door, probably so they were easy to access. A cloak hung beside them and it seemed to blend in with the stone wall, so that Harry had to look twice to be sure it was there. In what may have been simple creativity coupled with mischievous magic was a little garden in the corner opposite the bookcase. It was like a coy pond, very beautiful and added a serene feeling to the room. The whole room was a mix of wizarding, muggle and elvish styles that seemed mismatched and yet… fitted together so nicely. Ron looked up from the desk near the back of his office and grinned at them. "Hey guys, just give me a minute to finish this letter." He indicated with a quill the piece of parchment he was writing on.

"You may want to ask that Maedd be transferred." Lomli said quietly. Ron looked up again, an exasperated expression on his face.

"What happened now?" he asked with a long-suffering sigh.

"He was quite rude to your friends and siblings here." Lomli nodded to them, "Honestly Ron he doesn't want to be here and quite frankly I'm at a loss as to why he is here. He hates humans, he hates wizarding magic, and he-"

"Hates me." Ron finished, although he was smiling mildly.

"Well I was going to say dislike but I suppose that would be an understatement." Lomli sighed, crossing his arms. Ron leaned back in his seat and brushed the tip of the quill against his lips softly, seeming to be thinking carefully.

"He's a good warrior, a good tactician, he has the ability to take command if needed. He's independent."

"All good qualities, but what if he tries to take over the platoon he's in command of?"

"To what end?" Ron asked calmly, surprising his old friends and siblings. "What could he do? We are fighting the same enemies here Lomli. Maedd can't do anything so he could be plotting my demise for all I care. He's staying here." Lomli sighed and then said softly,

"I was harsh with him." Ron's brow creased, more in concern then anger. "I spoke cruelly to him." Ron stood up and walked over to the elf. He put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, gazing at him intently.

"Do not worry mellon nin. Maedd will come around eventually. Have faith in him." Lomli nodded and placed his hand on his chest over his heart and then clapped it on Ron's shoulder.

"Hantel Ron, mellon nin." he said softly, "It's the magic in this place, it's making me jumpy and irritable, not to mention giving me a headache like orc miners are pounding my head in."

"I'm sure you will grow accustom to it. Worry not." Ron said as they dropped their arms. Lomli nodded and then said, grinning,

"The Rasmus Ron?"

"Oh don't start with me Lomli!" Ron laughed, "I'm not getting into this argument of who's better, The Rasmus or H.I.M."

"Not H.I.M! HIM!" Lomli exclaimed, it sounded like they'd had this argument before. "And anyway the Rasmus only started doing the gothic style when they realised that every Finnish band that was in that style was doing well."

"No! They've always leaned to the side, they just have a variety! Look at Pa-Pa, In the shadows and Sail Away. They don't stick with one type of music really, they move around, that's why I like them."

"No they don't! They're a punk rock band and that's it!"

"I'm not having this argument with you again! I don't agree with you, I like them. You don't agree with me, you like Ville Valo, now drop it!" Ron laughed. Lomli smirked as if he'd won, but said simply,

"I shall go and let you get reacquainted." He gave a slight bow to them and then left without making a single sound. Ron laughed after him and then smiled at them and said,

"Please sit down, would you like something to drink? Butterbeer perhaps?" A little thrown by his formal and slightly old fashioned way of speaking Harry nodded along with the others. Ron nodded and drew out his wand. With a quick flick of it six tankards of the delicious drink appeared out of thin air and one moved to each person.

"Show off." Fred muttered jealously as he took his.

"Yep!" Ron smirked at them both, he then noticed Hermione looking extremely impressed. "What?" he asked

"You just conjured something from thin air without saying a word. Ron that takes great skill." A familiar blush began to creep up Ron's neck.

"Well I was given intensive training to complete my schooling within the two months in Rivendell. I think the fact that I was dealing with the teachers one on one made it easier to learn because I couldn't slack off."

"My god!" George gaped at him and Fred let butterbeer trickle out of his open mouth to the floor.

"Fred! Yuk!" Ron whipped out his wand again and cleaned the mess up. "Don't you know how to stay tidy for two minutes?"

"Since when did you become mum?" Fred grumbled.

"I haven't but the elves are a clean and neat people and it's rubbed off on me." Ron motioned to the chairs. "Sit down, I'll just finish the letter before I forget it and then we can catch up." They nodded and Ron quickly went over to his desk and sat down. They didn't take their eyes off him for a second while he wrote whatever it was he was writing but he seemed completely immune to the stares as if he was used to being stared at. Then again if you were in charge of an army then you'd definitely be used to it. "There!" Ron set down the quill, and blew on the parchment carefully as he came over to them. He set the letter down onto the table to let it dry. "Damn ink." he muttered.

"You could use a spell." Hermione offered. Ron waved his hand in the air,

"Nah, I've learned to appreciate the fact that some things just have to be allowed to happen naturally. Magic can't be the answer to everything. Science and nature must play a part. Besides," he sighed as he looked over at the open window, "my mail carrier isn't back from his hunt yet. Can't send it anywhere till he does." He shrugged and settled back some more into the soft cushiony chair, drawing his legs up towards his chest in a kind of relaxed way. He pushed some of his hair out of his face and sipped his butterbeer carefully, eyes drooping very slightly as if he was concentrating on the taste as hard as he could. He set the glass down beside his letter and then leaned back the whole way, fixing them with curious eyes. "So any news?" he asked.

"What? We should be asking you about the last two months!" Ginny exclaimed. He shrugged,

"Ok, shoot." he grimaced slightly at the word shoot.

"Where is Rivendell?"

"It's south-east of Hogwarts, it rests in the _Occultus Terra_."

"The what?" Harry exclaimed,

"Occultus Terra, it's the Latin for hidden lands."

"Which is…?"

"Land that is concealed by magic from muggles. If you saw a map by a muggle manufacturer and then a map by an elf you'd see vast amounts of land is missing on the muggle one. The best examples are Greece and Ireland. Greece's many islands only exist because magic hides so much of its land, and Ireland is almost as big as the UK in reality but because it's such a magical country most of it is hidden from muggles."

"Ireland?"

"Yeah and Scotland is larger too. Rivendell is hidden among that land, connecting with Derry by the Giant's Causeway."

"Come off it Ron!" Fred laughed, "The Giant's causeway was crushed by the Giant."

"You mean that actually happened?" Harry asked bewildered.  
"Of course. But it was confirmed to be destroyed by both muggles and wizards." Hermione said calmly. Ron shook his head.

"Hermione the books are wrong. The Causeway still exists, I know because I've ridden over it on Urúvion."

"That's your horse right?"

"Yes my proud stallion."

"He's beautiful."

"And stubborn as hell." Ron laughed, "We're a good match. Cilath, Earithramir and Lomli made a good choice in giving him to me as a gift."

"Lucky! What were you doing in Ireland though? Didn't muggles find it odd that you were just ridding along in that weird garb?"

"Nah, they don't notice, no one does, I've learned the art of stealth, plus a little elven magic goes a long way."

"What were you doing in Ireland?"

"Can't say I'm afraid, classified."

"Classified?" snorted George, "Come on Ron it's us! You can tell us." He shook his head.

"I can't not even if you swore upon an Unbreakable Vow would I tell you, too dangerous." They stared at him in shock as he suddenly threw his hands up. "About time! Dubhaltach, where have you been?" Looking they saw a large bird fly in through the open window and come to rest on Ron's shoulder. It held a fairy in its beak and as it folded its wings threw its head back and swallowed it whole with a crunch. Harry grimaced slightly.

"Ron what is that?" Ginny exclaimed

"This is Dubhaltach. He's my pet Augurey, or Irish Phoenix. He's the one I get to deliver my letters."

"Do you know how unlucky they are?" exclaimed Fred eyeing the bird nervously. Harry frowned, he knew he'd heard of Augureys before but couldn't recall.

"Relax. Dubhaltach is harmless. It's just like with Thestrals. Not half as dangerous as they're rumoured to be. Their cry doesn't symbolise death, they just like singing whenever it rains. Believe me, this guy never shuts up when it rains. Probably comes from being Irish, you know it's always raining over there." Ron rolled up his letter and sealed it with his wand and then gave it to Dubhaltach. "Now give this directly to Lord Elrond or Glorfindel, understand." The bird gave him a slight nip on the ear and then took off. "That reminds me, how's Pig?"

"He's fine. Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that letter written in?"

"Oh an elvish Quenya code."

"You learned to read, write and speak a whole knew language in two months." Hermione asked wide eyed and disbelieving. Ron rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and said

"Well it's handy when you're a Veneificus Donum Linguist." Hermione's jaw dropped and the others frowned in confusion.

"What the bloody hell is that?"

"It's a magical linguist. Ron can learn languages just by listening to them. They only come along once every twenty generations." Ron gestured to her,

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

"So can you speak any other languages?"

"Sindarin, Goa'uld, French, Spanish, Latin, Finnish, Bulgarian, and Gaelic, to name a few." Ron ticked the languages off his fingers while his siblings gaped at him dumbstruck. "It's helpful with Dumbledore around because, you know, he speaks so many languages. I'm gonna pay the mermaids a visit and see what mermish is like. Oh and GobbledeGook I really want to learn that too."

"God! Anything else you can do?" Ron paused and cocked his head to the side as if contemplating something but he looked back at them so fast Harry wasn't sure if he'd seen it.

"No, not really, apart from, you know, fighting." he shrugged. Ginny set down her drink and came closer to him and touched his hand. She looked like she had something very important to say and Ron gave her his full attention.

"Ron who forced you into this?" she asked her voice dead serious. His brow creased in confusion.

"What? Who forced me into what?"

"Who forced you into taking this job on?"

"No one Ginny, it was my choice." he said calmly, although Harry noticed a faint colour creeping up his neck.

"I don't believe it." she shook her head angrily, "My brother Ron would never take on a job of slaughtering people."

"The things I've killed aren't people Ginny." Ron spoke in an eerie tone, "They are monsters, or they are slaves, their lives are meaningless to both me and the ones who command them." Ginny pulled away her eyes wide in horror.

"You can't be my brother, Ron doesn't think like that."

"Think like what? Like a realist?" Ron stood up, not angrily, he just got to his feet as if in thought and stepped over to the fireplace. He touched the mahogany wood and at once a roaring fire burst into life.

"Ginny how do you view fighting?" he asked so quietly it was hard to hear him. Ginny frowned slightly.

"I think it's wrong." Ron clasped his hands behind his back and stared into the fire.

"Why?"

"It's violent, unnecessary." Ron lifted his head and looked at her calmly. It was like there was no one else in the room except them two.

"Unnecessary?" he asked, his voice was eerily calm and quiet and made them nervous. "You know I thought that once too. Do you also think it's primitive?"

"Yes." she answered without hesitation. Ron smiled very slightly, humour in his blue eyes.

"Would you say the same of making love?"

"Erm what?" Ginny looked thoroughly uncomfortable and Harry felt his cheeks get very, very warm. Ron turned to them full and fixed them with a questioning look.

"Do you think making love is primitive?"

"Well, now that's different!"

"How? Fighting and sex are both universal actions. Every creature does them don't they?"

"Well I suppose." Ron smirked as Ginny stuttered into silence.

"I'm not saying fighting is enjoyable, and I'm not saying that I love it, but now it is a part of me and I wouldn't change it. Guys, being with the elves, it made me see things so differently. I am different because of it all."

"That's obvious." Fred muttered loudly. Ron sighed and said

"You don't approve of my way of life now. You'd rather I be in school." His face twisted into anger, "You'd rather I still be an idiot, naïve and uncomprehending of the world as it really is. You'd rather I still be covered by all of your shadows, and fade in and out of recognition." Ron clenched his fists and said bitterly, "I will not! I've worked too hard for everything I achieved in my life, only for it to be out done by one of you, and I shall not have it any more! I came here against my better judgement to protect you and you look down your nose at me because I don't conform to your opinion of right. I can't wait to see what you'll think if the school gets attacked by orcs and Jaffa and I and my men are the only ones between you, protecting you! I'd rather be in Rivendell, protecting the elves, but no! Dumbledore wants me here." He suddenly stopped his words and turned away from them. "I was hoping we'd be able to act like we always did, because I remembered it with fondness, but now I remember the reality and my heart is clouding my memory. Get out!" They didn't move, too shocked by his anger. "I said GET OUT!" Ron whirled around and shouted at them furiously. Frightened they obeyed and ran out of the room, they ran until Ginny who was in front crashed into someone and knocked them over. They all froze when they realised it was Cilath. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head gingerly,

"What was your rush?" she asked, looking up at them. Ginny, blushing madly went and helped her to her feet,

"I'm so sorry Professor."

"Please Ginny, its just Cilath." the elf smiled at her pleasantly.

"How did you know my name."

"Oh you look just like Ron, it was easy." She seemed to notice the way their faces clouded at the mention of Ron. "What's the matter?"

"Why don't you ask Ron." Fred muttered bitterly. Cilath's brow creased in concern.

"Did you have a fight?"

"He just yelled at us." George said, pouting. Cilath's brow creased even more and she touched her lips thoughtfully.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to lose his temper, he's just been stressed out. Moving over a hundred people to a location that's miles away on horseback isn't easy and commanding the army isn't any easier. I'm sure he just lost control, he'll say sorry tomorrow. I'll go and talk with him." she smiled at them reassuringly.

"Thanks but I wouldn't go near him for a while he's pretty angry."

"Well maybe," she winked at them suddenly, "but elves are stronger then humans, if he gets out of hand, I'll just hold him down, won't I." She grinned, showing her pearly white teeth, while she tucked her hair behind her delicately pointed ear. Harry felt his knees tremble slightly.

"Cilath!" they all turned to see another elven woman walking up to them, her weapons strapped to her back. Her hair was dark and her eyes were green.

"Oh hello Vanlanthiriel." Cilath smiled at her. The woman came up and gave her a kiss on the cheek,

"Hello mellon nin. How was today?"

"Oh it was alright. I got attacked by the poltergeist though." Her smile faltered slightly as she said this. Vanlanthiriel looked at her sympathetically,

"Don't worry about him, he's just a soul that's trapped here and cannot move on." Cilath nodded and squeezed her friend's hand. Vanlanthiriel suddenly noticed the others. "Oh, you must be Captain Balanidhren's siblings and friends."

"Er, yes." Fred answered sounding a bit dumbfounded. Harry couldn't blame them, why were all the elves so distractingly attractive? The two women smiled as if they knew exactly what Harry was thinking and he blushed deeply. Cilath said something in elvish and they both giggled.

"Does anyone else feel light-headed?" Vanlanthiriel asked touching her brow.

"It's the magic in the castle, it's affecting everyone, Lomli's the worst off." Cilath explained patiently. Harry wondered just what that was like for them.

"Oh, well I'm off for something to eat and then bed. 'Quel undome."

"Quel kaima mellon nin." Cilath kissed her cheek and Vanlanthiriel walked away. "Now." Cilath turned back to them, "To see what all this is about with Ron."

"Should we come with you?" asked Hermione.

"No thank you, I will go myself, and I shall find out what got into him. You all get some sleep, Fred, George, I and Earithramir have your class first thing tomorrow, I expect you both to be bright eyed and ready to learn."

"Yes, ma'am." Fred said, blushing faintly. Both Fred and George would never have been embarrassed about talking to girls before these elves arrived. This confirmed Harry's suspicion, it was going to be a very interesting year.

* * *

"Ron? Are you in there?" Cilath knocked lightly on the door of Ron's office.

"'s open." She heard him grunt and she pushed the door open. She, at first, couldn't spot him but then she saw him sitting on the couch, curled up and staring at the fire as if hypnotised. She walked over and sat beside him. She looked his face over and knew he'd been crying, his eyes were slightly red and tear tracks were on his cheeks. She reached out and began to run her fingers through his hair slowly and he leaned into the touch.

"I thought you were happy at seeing your friends and family." she whispered softly.

"I was." he answered, "Until I realised that they wouldn't accept me as I now am. They would accept the old Ron, that was who they were expecting; they didn't accept me as I am now."

"How is that?" she wondered as she shifted closer, moulding her form to his.

"I have killed, I command others to kill. To them this is a sin, even though they ought to understand by now, Harry and Hermione better then anyone, and yet they don't. If I didn't do this then either someone else would or… or there would be no defence." He ran a hand through his hair and then grabbed her hand and lifted it to his lips. She felt his soft, supple lips move over it, touching the fingertips, the palm, the back, moving over the wrist. She gasped lightly, since when was her skin on her wrist so sensitive? Ron looked at her hungrily and kissed her passionately. She let him explore her mouth and gentle stroked his face. She wished he wouldn't try to forget his troubles like this but he needed comfort and she could give it, and so she would. He stood up and lifted her into his arms and bodily carried her to their room, mercifully not running into anyone, the whole time his lips brushed over her skin, moving smoothly over her neck and butterfly kisses were brushed over her jaw. She sighed in contentment as he suckled on her slightly exposed collarbone. He laid her on the bed and pulled off his shirt, before joining her. She looked into his eyes, which were a clear sky blue and saw love, desire and need. She kissed him on the mouth softly and then pulled away again,

"You are more then you give yourself credit for Ron. You should not let their words hurt you so."

"I know A'maelamin, but their opinions once meant the world to me. Those feelings will not disappear overnight."

"I understand but… I just wish you could be happy here."

"I don't think I can anymore. I'm happy in Rivendell, and I think I'm happy at the Burrow, but here… things just are too different now, there are so many memories of what we achieved here… and I can't smile about them anymore." She gave him a sad look and touched his face,

"Ron, I believe you will smile about them again, but you are still hurting from all that has happened and your friends are overwhelmed by the change of you. It will take time, things will work out in the end one way or another." Ron gave her a hopeful look.

"You think so?" There was an almost boyish quality to his words that made her smile,

"I believe it with all my heart." she swore. She never made a promise like that lightly so he understood the strength of her conviction. He took her hand and entwined their fingers.

"Hannon le melamin." he whispered, so softly it made her tingle. She closed her eyes and felt herself begin to drift away, sleep was calling her to it. "Sleep my love." Ron breathed, she felt her eyes begin to open and yet she saw nothing. She slipped away into unconsciousness and dreamed of things the human mind could never truly appreciate.

* * *

Normally I would put in a translation as they are said but that only happens when those who are listening can understand the language, if you get my meaning, Harry and the others couldn't understand what the elves were saying. That's why they weren't there. Anyway, if you want to find out what Lomli told Maedd then here's the translation… at least I hope this is what was said.

"Maedd, tampa tanya." _(Maedd stop that)_

"Mankoi? Amin uuma malia nia edanea." _(Why? I care not about humans)_

"Farn! Dina! Antolle ulua sulrim a amin uuma merna ta. Kela! Amin feuya ten'lle. Dolle naa lost. Tessa sina delu hún, amin uuma malia." _(Enough! Be silent! Much wind pours from your mouth and I don't want it. Go away! You disgust me! Your head is empty. Hold onto that hateful heart, I don't care.)_

"Amin autien rath." _(I'm going to bed) _

If anyone thinks Lomli was a bit much, you must consider that a) Maedd has been acting like an ass for over a month now and b) Lomli isn't in the best of moods because the elves are being seriously affected by the magic and Lomli's the worst off, so he's got a reason to snap.

By the way, sorry if anyone was upset by the whole The Rasmus and H.I.M argument, I just wanted to show that Ron's fully immersed in all three worlds, muggle, magic and elf. The Rasmus are my fave band and I've had that kind of argument with my friend about the two bands.

Night's Darkness


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry this took so long but I'm working on a few other stories at the moment so this got side-tracked, but I promise I haven't forgotten it, and I will eventually finish it, I swear!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

It was nearing the end of September and Harry was still not used to having classes with Ron, to listening to his history teachers bicker during class, or to the elves in general. They always sat at the middle table for meals but since the first night they arrived they'd always been missing a good half at each meal. Sometimes some would come in during the middle of a meal, looking quite tired, especially in the mornings. Most elves were very nice and polite to them, but there was one he'd learned to avoid. Maedd. He was not kind or warm to anyone at all, especially Ron. He, Harry, had seen them arguing plenty of times already and Maedd once interrupted a class with Ron and the two of them had started yelling at each other in elvish. The only thing Harry had understood, because it was said in English was,

"For fuck's sake Maedd he was as much my friend as your brother! Stop blaming me for what happened, when we both know it's because you don't want to blame yourself!" Maedd had punched him for that and Ron had ordered him to stand down and had Lomli put him in solitary confinement for a day and night so as to let him cool down. Now Maedd was in a very foul mood and even the other elves were clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. Looking up at the Staff Table he saw Ron was resting the side of his head in his hand propped up on the table, he looked tired and Cilath and Earithramir were obviously pestering him to eat some more but he was ignoring them. He looked very tired and worn out. Harry felt pity stir within his stomach, but tried to ignore it. He was still mad at Ron for yelling at them that first day, something he had yet to apologise for. Ron was cool to him and Hermione, in fact he was a bit off with everyone in the class and according to the other years, he was no better with any of them. People who'd known him as the cheerful, joking, smiling Gryffindor keeper were seriously wondering what had happened to change him so much.

Harry found his eyes drawn to the scar on Ron's neck, he still couldn't get over how calm Ron had been about talking on it. The scar was whiter then the rest of his skin and jagged, as if the knife hadn't been straight. The very thought of such a weapon slicing Ron's neck made him shudder and look away. Hermione looked at him questioningly but he shook his head, he didn't want to say what was in his head. He slowly finished his meal, only looking up when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Ron getting to his feet and walking out. His head was bowed, and he seemed to be in deep thought, he always was these days. He rarely spoke, except in class and even then he only gave instructions, none of the banter of the first class. Malfoy had taken to mocking him and Lomli when he thought neither noticed, and Ron never seemed to notice and Lomli simply ignored him. Harry felt his stomach lurch as he remembered he had his Physical Defence class today. He wasn't doing very well in them, Ron was a good teacher, there was no denying that, but he was tough and hard on slaking, last class he'd gotten mad and made the class do a lap around the grounds because they hadn't followed his instructions, and then refused to give them and excuse for being late to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape had not been pleased to say the least, and he decided to blame Harry for it.

On the other hand he also had history, which, for the first time in his life, he was enjoying. Cilath and Earithramir had so far only gotten through the first chapter of history with them, mostly because they kept arguing over details, Earithramir would say that someone he knew's father, who they were learning about, had done something, and Cilath would counter, saying someone else's brother had done something else to counter the first guy and it often lead to them bickering and insulting each other. It may not have been the most impressive type of teaching, but it didn't mean that Harry wasn't learning, on the contrary he was. He learned so much about elves and their ways and history. They fascinated him but he became more interested in learning about the Goa'uld pretty quickly. He knew they were the enemy and that they weren't human but that was about it. Ron wasn't telling and Cilath and Earithramir didn't seem eager to explain without Ron's permission.

"Come on Harry, we'd better get going." Hermione said as she stood up, pulling her bag strap over her shoulder.

"Yeah." he said slowly rising to his feet. He looked up at the Staff Table and saw that Cilath and Earithramir were deep in conversation, and both looked worried.

* * *

"What will we do Cilath? Things are going downhill and we're still in the first month."

"I know, I know!" Cilath snapped as she watched Ron walk away. He'd been quiet and moody for days now, barely grunting whenever anyone spoke to him. "I've tried talking to him but he doesn't even answer me. What else do you want me to do?"

"I don't mean you have to do something, isn't there something we can collectively do?"

"I doubt it, he's really hurt by Harry and the others behaviour. He doesn't think they appreciate what he's been through. They don't try to comfort him, they just become angry at the fact that he knows how to wield a sword."

"That's nonsense." Earithramir exclaimed, she quickly shushed him as Snape looked their way. The man set her on edge with his unreadable eyes. "Have they not realised the danger they're in?" he continued in a whisper.

"No, because Ron won't tell them and won't let us tell them, remember?"

"Oh… right."

"I think we should today. Tell them why Ron needs to fight."

"Ron won't like that."

"Ron may be a captain of an army, but I am not a solider, I don't serve him."

"Well not in that way anyway." Earithramir chuckled, giving her a smirk. She blushed softly and then scowled,

"I serve no one, except myself Earithramir, you know that. I obey out of respect, not because I'm controlled by someone. I am going to tell them of the Goa'uld and the orcs, they need to know the danger and Ron is being stupid and stubborn by not telling them."

"Well… I don't suppose there's any possible way I can talk you out of this is there?"

"No." she said firmly

"Then I guess you leave me no choice but to stand by your side and correct you when you make mistakes."

"I don't make mistakes in history or the Goa'uld!" she fought a smile as she spoke.

"Oh really?" Earithramir grinned at her, his eyes twinkling. He would have said more, except Lomli appeared behind him and crouched down to subtly kiss his cheek.

"Good morning." Earithramir pouted as he turned to look at his lover.

"That's not much of a greeting." Lomli chuckled and traced his ear tip with a finger.

"Sorry, but Ron told us to try to be discreet. I'm simply following orders."

"I'll kill him for that."

"Why did he tell you to be discreet?" Cilath asked bewildered.

"Because he believes many people will look down upon our relationship and he wanted to avoid strain between our peoples."

"Why would they look down upon your relationship?"

"Because we are of the same gender, Ron warned us that many people here would react badly to that fact." Cilath frowned and the remembered Ron's reaction to walking in on Lomli and Earithramir kissing. He'd panicked and had been too shocked to talk properly. He'd found the idea… well he just hadn't known how to react to it. He couldn't explain why it bothered him so much. But he'd gotten over it within a day and now enjoyed teasing them as often as he could in a friendly way. He had barely batted an eyelid when he'd walked in on them again, doing much more then kissing and had simply walked back out joking that they'd scarred him for life.

"But surely… the others would get over it quickly, Ron did."

"You know Ron's open to everything far more then other people, that's why he's so good at this job of working with all the peoples. I don't think it's a trait all humans would possess." She sighed and pushed some loose pieces of hair out of her face in frustration.

"I wish we could go home." she whispered softly before she could stop the words. Her hand flew to her mouth to cover it but the damage was done. Earithramir and Lomli stared at her in surprise.

"You want to leave?"

"Well…" she bit her lower lip and then said, "I don't like being here, I feel like I'm being suffocated by the walls and the people, they won't let us do as we please because they don't like people being different." Lomli patted her knee comfortingly,

"Don't worry about it mellon nin, maybe this is just the stage where we need to find a compromise. I'm sure it will all work out in the end." She narrowed her eyes at him and asked bluntly.

"Lomli, must you always be a bloody optimist?"

"Yes and Ron's a bad influence on you. You just said bloody."

"I did?"

"Indeed." Earithramir chuckled while taking her hand in his. "Come on mellon nin. Let's get our classroom ready for the next lesson." She smiled and followed his example of rising to her feet. The three walked out together, feeling the eyes of many people on them. They were used to it by now so they paid it little attention.

"I hate that they do that." Earithramir muttered as they got to the Main Foyer.

"Me too. It's as if they are waiting for us to do something incredible or something and I am getting a little tired of some of the girls going all giggly whenever I try and talk to them." Lomli huffed

"I'm sick of some of the boys staring at my chest." Cilath grumbled, folding her arms over her chest as she spoke self-consciously. "They stare at me with this look that makes me think they'll jump on me and start tearing my clothes off." She blushed shamefully as she spoke and looked away from her close friends. Earithramir and Lomli both put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"Don't worry, we won't let them hurt you and not all of them stare at you like that."

"Yes but if even one did it would make me nervous." she admitted, "I know they're not animals, but Ron himself told me that teen boys were little better in the presence of any female."

"Particularly one as attractive as you." Lomli grinned. Cilath blushed a delicate pink and Earithramir scowled jealously. "Although to me Earithramir will always be the most attractive creature on Arda." Lomli winked at Earithramir who blushed as well while Cilath laughed.

"I think I can forgive you for that."

"I'd hope so." Lomli put his arms around Earithramir and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth before pulling away. "Well, I'm off to see what the class is going to be about today." He waved and walked away with a smile on his face. Earithramir watched him leave with a longing expression on his face.

"By the Valar, it's worse then I thought." Cilath said softly,

"What?" he asked whirling around,

"You're in love with him." she grinned. He sighed and looped their arms as they walked up the steps to their classroom.

"Yes, I think I am." He said dramatically.

"My, my Earithramir, I never thought I'd see the day." she giggled as they entered the room.

"Hey it was only a matter of time."

* * *

Harry and Hermione sat down in their usual seats in the second row of the History classroom. Cilath and Earithramir were standing between the desk and the blackboard, talking softly. Cilath looked like she was being stubborn and Earithramir seemed resigned. Harry took in the beautiful, elaborate dress Cilath was wearing, yellow, off the shoulders, flowing all the way down her willowy figure to cover her feet. When everyone was seated Cilath greeted them in elvish as usual.

"Alright, today we will be telling you about the Goa'uld and the other creatures that you will not have heard of that we are facing in this war." Excited whispers flew through the room and Harry and Hermione shared eager looks. At last! "Now," Cilath continued, "This is very important and you must listen and I think you ought to take notes as well."

"We may test you on this, an oral test, but we need to make sure you know what is out there." Earithramir spoke up, "You have no idea how dangerous this whole thing is. Here you are relatively safe, but magic is not always going to protect you. That's why you have classes with Ron, he's ensuring you have a better chance of staying alive throughout this war." Harry shifted in his chair. Once again the scar on Ron's neck came into his mind. He'd gotten that learning how to protect them. He looked at the desk and focused on the graffiti that covered it. The seat he was perched upon suddenly felt less comfortable then usual, as if he could feel the hard wood even through all the soft cushions. He felt guilt in his stomach, but he didn't know why yet.

"Alright, we'll start with the Goa'uld." Cilath said, walking around the desk and sitting on it, her long legs dangling over the edge. Her face was dead serious and her eyes had lost their mischief, they looked sad and bitter. "The Goa'uld are a parasitic race. That means they attach themselves to others for their own benefit really. There are really two types of Goa'uld, the parasite and the human kind. The parasite resembles a snake, with ruby eyes and a four pronged mouth, and newly developed adults also possess a kind of fin around their necks, which they can use to leap out of water. They are as dangerous as the other kind if they can get near your neck or mouth. The human version is actually when a parasite version buries themselves into the back of the neck or in through the mouth and wraps themselves around the spinal cord and attaches itself to the brain stem. It then suppresses the consciousness of the body, and assumes control. That's called blending, although this word is really only applicable with the Tok'ra where this process is only done with express permission of the host."

"So this snake thing gets into your head and takes over your body?" Neville asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

"Yes." Cilath said simply.

"That sounds like the Imperius Curse." Hermione commented.

"It's worse then the Imperius, because that requires concentration of the caster, and is hard to maintain for long periods of time, even for men such as Voldemort." A shudder passed through the room at the mention of the name but Cilath ignored it as she continued, "With a symbiote, which is what we call the parasite version, in control of the body you have a perfect spy. Just think about it. The symbiote has access to all the hosts memories, and can mimic their behaviour perfectly. Think about it. Say… Hermione was possessed by a symbiote." Hermione jumped as Cilath pointed at her. "The symbiote would act no differently then she would, so it would always be able to answer the questions teachers have, always spend time in the library and do everything else that makes Hermione herself. And no one would notice the difference. She might be a little different at times, but not enough to arouse suspicion. It's nearly impossible to catch a host from an unblended person." Harry gulped softly.

"There are some things you can use to detect a symbiote but they can hide these so it's very hard to catch them." Earithramir spoke up, "The most obvious ones are the fact that they naturally have a flanged voice and that when they experience very strong emotions their eyes glow a golden light. And Ron also commented that their behaviour is very clichéd bad guy type of behaviour."

"What do you mean flanged?" Parvati asked, her brow furrowed.

"Well… it's hard to define, you'd know it if you heard it. It's deeper then normal, and it almost sounds like two voices are speaking together, although you have to listen carefully to pick it up. One voice is the body's voice and the other is the symbiote's if that makes any sense." At their confused looks Cilath simply said,

"You'll know it if you hear it, although we hope you never do."

"Moving on, the more dangerous one I suppose is the human version. Now you must understand, the Goa'uld are vain, cocky and intelligent enough to achieve anything they want if nothing stood in their way." Earithramir folded his arms over his chest. "Take out your wands." he commanded. They jumped, and then obeyed each pulling out their wand. "Look at it." The elf told them softly. "Really look at it. It's an ingenious tool isn't it? A simple piece of wood with a few bits and pieces in the core of it, and yet it is so powerful. Think of all the spells you can do with it. Think of all the great achievements are at your fingertips with it. It's a very special and wonderful thing, isn't it?" Harry blinked as he stared at his wand thoughtfully. He'd never really thought about it but Earithramir had a point, a wand was a very special and powerful item. His own was very, very special. He gripped it a little tighter and smiled at it. "Now what if we told you that a Goa'uld invented the wand." Harry's neck cricked as his head shot up.

"No!" he exclaimed, unable to stop himself. Cilath raised a hand, her large sleeve slipping down her arm to her elbow, revealing a thin scar there that Harry had never seen before. It wasn't new, and it was actually like the scar on Ron's neck, jagged and long, going from her wrist to her elbow, embedded in the soft milky skin. It disappeared as she dropped her arm. He was barely aware of the silence that descended upon the class. What had done that to her?

"I'm afraid it's true, that item you all hold, as well as most of the spells you use with it were invented by the Goa'uld. You see to create such an item, so simple, yet so powerful, or to create spells that give you light, can conjure water from nothing, all the spells you use, right up to the ones you call the Unforgiveables, were created by the Goa'uld during the time of the Middle Kingdom in Ancient Egypt."

"But the spells are in Latin!" Hermione exclaimed sounding distressed. Harry knew that a lot of this went against everything she'd ever read and, being Hermione, that was a hard thing to deal with.

"Yes, but originally they were in Ancient Egyptian, the Romans translated them into Latin when they took over them. Back to the point however, the Goa'uld not only created the wands, but they also posed as the Gods you've all no doubt heard of, Isis, Ra, Osiris, Hathor, and later on the Greek and Roman ones, Athena, Zeus, Cronus, and even in China, like Yu, and many other cultures."

"They posed as the Gods, and people believed them?"

"Well, muggles did first, because they had no magical powers of their own, and the Goa'uld that posed as gods often chose wizards and witches to possess. Being more intelligent then humans were at the time, they were able to overwhelm all humans, including wizards and control them as slaves. But eventually the humans rebelled, and the Goa'uld were forced to flee to what is now called America. They posed as the Gods of the Aztecs and Mayans and Incas. When humans from Europe discovered America they fled again and found our home, Valinor, but we were able to repel them about five hundred years ago."

"So all ancient mythology is based on these snake creatures that pretended to be gods?"

"Yes, pretty much." Harry sat back in his seat, feeling a little winded. He couldn't believe so much of his species culture and history had been influenced by a bunch of snakes.

"Ok, they have magic, but it sounds like they've had trouble staying in control, they don't sound any more dangerous then You-Know-Who." Seamus spoke up.

"Ah, but they don't only have magic Seamus." Cilath said clearly. "The Goa'uld are also very intelligent in mechanics, science, what you would call muggle areas of study I suppose. They've built flying ships that run on power, not magic, they have weapons that shoot energy beams at an opponent, they have almost no need for magic at all."

"And Voldemort's ok with this?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Not really from what we've heard, but that is another matter Harry." Earithramir answered quickly. "Now, an important thing to know is that the Goa'uld have many human slaves, both muggle and magical. In fact the Goa'uld are responsible for half the unsolved missing people cases in the whole world, they abduct those that they believe will be useful to them, either in creating or building devices or developing new spells. They have no qualms about who they hurt or kill as long as they get what they want."

"Where are they?" Hermione asked, her hand shooting up into the air. "Where do they come from?"

"Well we don't know where the original Goa'uld come from, but at present they inhabit Delmak, a large unplotable, completely hidden island, that's shielded from both muggles and magic folk. It lies a good few miles off the coast of Ireland, in the Atlantic. The island is man-made, as in the human slaves built it for them." Harry swallowed hard in shock. This was a lot to digest. "There is more, the Goa'uld have warriors called Jaffa. They are similar to humans except they have a pouch in their abdomens, within which they hold a primat'ah, or undeveloped symbiote, and this serves as their immune system, without a symbiote a Jaffa would very soon die. The Jaffa are strong, disciplined and skilled in fighting, so never underestimate them. Indeed never, underestimate the Goa'uld they are far too dangerous." Harry and Hermione shared worried looks as fear began to set into the faces of their classmates.

"I think we will leave class for today." Cilath said softly, "There are a few more to know about, but that is the worst of it. You may leave now." Slowly they began to gather their books and file out, not saying a word to each other. Harry felt shaky as he imagined Voldemort aligned with these new enemies. He shuddered slightly, and swallowed hard. It wasn't easy to think of. They went back to the Gryffindor tower and changed into their clothes for Physical Defence. As Harry pulled the shirt over his head, he heard Dean say

"C'mon guys, they'll never get in here, not with all the magic and the elves protecting the school. We're fine." He seemed to be trying to convince himself as much as them.

"Yeah, I mean Hogwarts is safe, everyone says its one of the safest places in the world, and that's doubly so with the elves around." Seamus agreed slowly.

"Yeah, we'll be ok, right Harry?" Neville turned his head to him hopefully.

"Y-yeah. Sure, we're safe. We'll be fine." Harry gave a tight smile as he tried to sound convincing, but he wasn't very good at it. Ron was always better at convincing people then him.

* * *

Hmm, problems, problems, problems.

Review, review, review!

Night's Darkness


	7. Chapter 7

Ok here's the next chapter, but no more until I get a review! Seriously, I'm not even sure I want to keep this up because no one's telling me! I know there's some problem with it not seeming to show up on the first page, but I am working hard on this so I'd really appreciate a little response.

* * *

**Chapter 7 **

"Ron is going to kill us when he finds out."

"You leave Ron to me mellon nin." Cilath said calmly as she poured over the Quibbler again. She seemed fascinated by that article about House Elves. Earithramir knew why. They'd all heard myths about what had happened to the last of the orcs. For creatures to call themselves elves, was too much of a coincidence in Earithramir's point of view. Was it at all possible that House Elves and Elves were connected by more then just name. They hadn't mentioned this to Ron though, he was very sensitive about anyone being disrespectful to elves. Earithramir knew why too. Ron felt that no human cared for the elves, and Earithramir would admit in many cases he was right. This feeling made him paranoid, on top of his anxiousness of defending the school, teaching the classes and his fighting with his friends and family. Ron was exhausted by it all and he, Cilath and Lomli were very worried about how much it would take to break him.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were walking down to their Physical Defence class with Neville, Dean and Seamus, with Lavender and Parvati coming up behind.

"I hope we'll be trying the bow today." Dean was saying, "It's so cool watching Ron and Lomli shoot the target and hitting it dead centre so fast."

"I think he was going to teach us how to parry today with our 'swords'." Harry said. They weren't using swords yet, they only had long sticks to practise, Ron swore that they wouldn't touch a sword till the end of the year.

"Maybe they'll teach us how to be gay like them!" sneered Malfoy coming up behind them with his usual entourage.

"Bugger off Malfoy!" Seamus snapped as they walked out side, pulling their scarves over their chins as the cold air hit them.

"What? Can't handle the truth Finnegan?" Malfoy laughed, "Didn't you know? That elf is a fag!" Harry rolled his eyes and he tried to ignore him. "I saw him kissing his boyfriend! They were all over each other, it was disgusting!" Harry couldn't help pausing and looking at him. Despite the usual smirk he could tell Malfoy was telling the truth. Harry couldn't remember seeing Lomli that morning at breakfast… and Ron had left early. Could it be that Ron and Lomli were…? Harry looked over to their training area. Ron and Lomli were laughing and talking, the only time Ron seemed to smile these days whenever Harry saw him was when he was with Lomli. Suddenly Lomli put his hand on Ron's shoulder and shoved him against a tree. Harry's eyes widened and watched as Lomli pressed Ron to the tree. Ron was laughing as he pushed back but to Harry it didn't look like he was trying very hard to escape Lomli's grip. He looked back at Malfoy who was grinning so broadly it was a wonder it didn't cut his head off. Harry looked back to see Ron had finally pushed Lomli off but they were now wrestling on the ground.

'_Oh God!'_ was all he could think. Hermione let out a strangled noise and covered her mouth, no doubt having reached the same conclusion. Malfoy was grinning broadly, as if Christmas and his birthday had come early.

"Well I suppose it's best we don't keep them waiting." Malfoy laughed and walked on ahead. Harry followed numbly, unable to believe what he'd just learned.

* * *

"Lomli! Ow! Let go of my leg." Ron laughed as Lomli pinned him and pulled his leg sharply, removing his boot

"Oh but that foot looks so bare and inviting and I simply must-" Lomli began to tickle the foot and Ron began to laugh and struggle anew.

"Please stop Lomli! Oh God stop it!" Ron howled as he tried to pull his foot from the tight grip. "Lomli please!"

"Oh I'm afraid only one thing will save you from this torture." Lomli smiled as he spoke casually.

"Ok, ok what ever you want! I promise!" Ron laughed.

"Anything?"

"ANYTHING!"

"I'll hold you to that." Lomli swore as he released the foot and stood up. Ron sat up and grabbed his boot, pulling it back on. He looked up once it was secure to see his sixth year class walking over. Harry looked like he'd just received life shattering news, and Hermione seemed to be near tears. Ron felt his heart tug in his chest. It told him to find out what was upsetting them. But he dug his heels in and refused. He was going to wait for them to apologise to him, they were in the wrong here, not him. Malfoy looked very pleased with himself too. "Alright! Move your butts over here." he called sharply, getting to his feet, trying not to look bothered that they'd seen Lomli beat him. "We're going to work a bit more on our sword moves and if you do well we may try out the bow towards the end. You'll have to put in the effort though. Lomli?"

"Aye sir." Lomli quickly passed out the sticks they'd been using for swords and Ron began calling out numbers.

"3. 4. 2. 5." Each number stood for a different sword position and when he called it they had to assume the position. "Neville! You're too stiff, relax that shoulder. Parvati for Valar's sake grip that stick properly! Malfoy if I ever see you do that again you'll have a months worth of detention."

"Four detentions?" exclaimed Malfoy in shock.

"Thirty detentions! Now keep going! 1. 8. 6. 2. Faster!" The class was like this for an hour and by the end they were all sweating profusely and gasping for air. "Here." Ron quickly conjured a glass of water for each and they all drank gratefully. "Hurry up, we'll move onto the bow now, you all did well today." He had to admit that there was an improvement in both skill and behaviour. It seemed like he'd gotten through to them that he wasn't going to go easy on them, he couldn't afford to, this stuff was too dangerous. They looked cheered at his words. "Ok. Lomli, if you'd be so kind as to help me." Ron picked up an armful of bows and passed them around. Lomli did the same. Ron noticed that Hermione looked away from him when he passed her a bow and put it down to her being stubborn. Malfoy sneered at him and he stared, poker-faced back. Ron wasn't stupid. He'd noticed that something was going on with Malfoy. He was thinner, and it seemed that he hadn't gotten much sleep recently. Finally he passed the last bow to Harry. Harry looked at him embarrassedly and then away with a weird look in his eyes, as if he was extremely uncomfortable. Ron barely had time to register this though as, when his skin brushed Harry's as their hands exchanged the bow, his vision was clouded suddenly and the boy before him vanished.

* * *

He was standing in a room, small and rundown, but clean. Seated in the room were the last people he expected to see. A slightly younger Dumbledore and Sybil Trelawney. They sat at a table and each had a drink, butterbeer for Dumbledore, and what smelt like cooking sherry for Trelawney.

"And you say that your great-great-grandmother was the gifted seer Cassandra Trelawney?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Yes, the inner eye has always been favourable towards my family. It views us as fit to learn from its wisdom." said Trelawney happily, eagerly.

"And yet, forgive me, but what makes you want to become a teacher in my school?" Dumbledore was, once again, perfectly polite but Ron got the feeling that he wasn't overly interested. What the hell was going on? Oh he was having a vision alright, that much was obvious, although it was oddly pain free, but why see this? What was so important?

"Because I wish to train those who possess the inner eye as I do, as you can imagine, it is a lonely gift if one cannot find those who also possess it." Ron felt like rolling his eyes, did the woman ever switch off?

"I see." Dumbledore nodded. Then suddenly the air seemed to shift and Ron stiffened, as did Dumbledore. Trelawney's head bowed forward and then she suddenly stood up, so abruptly that her chair fell back. Her eyes were blank and unseeing and she spoke in a harsh, hoarse tone, quite unlike the one she usually used.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to defeat the Dark lord will be born as the seventh months dies…"_ Dumbledore had, by now, risen to his feet and Trelawney seemed to come back to herself. She seemed surprised to find herself standing and was about to speak when they all registered that there was a lot of noise outside the door, and had been for some time and it burst open. The barman Ron instantly recognised and realised that he was in the Hog's Head. He also recognised the man the barman had in his grip.

Snape!

"-I came the wrong way!" Snape exclaimed furiously, he was sweating and seemed in an almost feverish excitement. He struggled and then managed to pull free and then apparated on the spot, leaving a shocked silence behind him.

"I believe Ms Trelawney, that I shall indeed hire you for Divination." Dumbledore murmured quietly. Trelawney beamed, although she looked bewildered at the same time. Then the whole sight vanished into black nothingness and Ron felt it engulf him, pulling him into oblivion.

* * *

"Ron? Ron?" a sweet voice was calling him and he really wanted to answer it. "Can you hear me mela?"

"Nnngh!" he moaned and struggled to open his eyes.

"Dim the lights Poppy." the voice requested, and Ron, now aware of his body, felt a hand rest on his. He was also aware of how comfy he was, nestled in warm crisp sheets, his head resting on a cloud, or a very soft pillow. "Come Ron, open your eyes for me." Cilath? Yes it was her voice calling him and he wanted to answer her because she sounded worried. He finally managed to pull his eyelids apart and looking to his right he met his elven lover's eyes.

"This is becoming a bad habit." he joked roughly, he needed a drink. Cilath smiled and then gave him a goblet of water. He drank greedily and then sighed in relief.

"Ron are you ok?" Huh? He looked to his left sharply and was surprised to see Harry, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny all looking at him worriedly.

"What are you doing here?" he blurted out. They all looked surprised now but Ginny answered

"We were worried about you, you git!" Ron scowled at her, annoyed by the insult, but he decided to let it slip as he remembered why he was in the hospital wing. At the same moment Cilath also seemed to remember

"Ron, what happened in-"

"Sedho Cilath. Amin avo merna quen." _(Be quiet Cilath, I don't wish to speak)_

"Mankoi?" _(Why?)_ She obviously still didn't understand his feelings about his visions and wizards, which were, simply put, bad. He refused to let them find out and try to abuse it. He didn't want any other wizard to know so he would only explain when his old friends and family, plus, Dumbledore, Pomfrey, Mc Gonagall and Hagrid were not around.

"Later mela, alright." She sighed and nodded, sitting back. Lomli and Earithramir both shook their heads.

"Are you feeling dizzy Mr. Weasley? Nauseous?" Madam Pomfrey asked, feeling his forehead.

"No, and no. I feel fine right now." In truth he was feeling a little weak, but he wasn't about to show that. Besides he needed to talk to Cilath and Earithramir and Lomli about his vision, so he needed to get to either his office or the Forbidden Forest, which ever he could reach faster. He looked at Harry and narrowed his eyes at him wonderingly. Did Harry know about the prophesy? Wait! Prophecy? Oh Valar! The prophecy that Lucius Malfoy had tried to steal! The one Sirius had technically died for… that had to be it! His eyes flew to Dumbledore and he didn't even need to guess. Dumbledore knew it, because he'd heard it directly. So he'd known all along that Harry would have to kill Voldemort, or be killed. He'd known from the moment he'd held Harry and laid him on his uncle's doorstep. All along! And he'd never told Harry! Maybe he'd told him after the incident in the Department of Mysteries, but he'd known all of Harry's life. Ron felt his brow contract into a deep scowl and he quickly looked away or else he was liable to loose his temper. He sat up in the bed and then noticed something rather embarrassing,

"Where are my clothes!" he exclaimed, looking down at his bare chest. Not a bad chest, but still this was embarrassing, especially since he quickly determined that he hadn't a stitch on him.

"You were sweating badly and overheated, we had to cool you down quickly so we took your clothes off to cool you down." Madam Pomfrey explained in a businesslike manner, although Ron could have sworn there was a faint touch of pink in her cheeks. He felt his own cheeks warm and then said

"Could someone pass me my underwear please?" Cilath smiled and passed them to him. He quickly pulled them on under the sheets and then settled back down, feeling a little less self-conscious. "Can I leave? I have to send a letter to Lord Elrond in answer to his last one."

"Well…" Madame Pomfrey looked him over and he did all he could to look able to leave, which wasn't too hard, since he felt well, just a little weak.

"I'll go down to the kitchens and get something to eat if that makes you feel any better." he promised.

"Very well then, you do seem fine, but I want you to eat something filling and healthy, and get a good nights sleep, I think this was all just a result of overworking." the matron said decisively. She turned to Cilath, "I'll trust you to make sure he actually goes to sleep." Cilath nodded in agreement, "Well then Mr. Weasley I'll leave you to dress. But if you feel in the slightest bit ill I want you to come straight here." She left his side and went into her office.

"Well Mr Weasley, since you're well I shall also leave, Albus I need a word with you anyway." Mc Gonagall said with a small smile.

"Of course Minerva, good night Ron." Dumbledore nodded to him and walked out with the Deputy Head.

"I best be getting back, I left one o' the elves horses with a sore foot, best get back and see how he's doing. Glad ter see you're all right Ron." Hagrid smiled down at him through his massive beard and Ron grinned back,

"Thanks Hagrid, I'll maybe pop round tomorrow if you don't mind, for a cup of tea."

"I thought you'd stopped drinking tea Ron." Hagrid chuckled,

"I simply meant it as an expression mellon nin." he laughed, "Good night."

"Night all." Hagrid stomped out, his footsteps echoing throughout the healing wing. Ron pushed the sheets away and stood up, stretching his arms back as he did, hearing something pop very satisfyingly.

"Much better, now Cilath, where are my clothes?"

"Hm?" Cilath looked up from where she'd been staring at his six-pack stomach. "What?"

"My clothes?" Ron prompted her with an amused smile.

"Oh yes, here." She stood up and picked them up from the foot of the bed and held them out to him. He grabbed his trousers and pulled them on where he stood. As he did up the fly he looked at his siblings and friends.

"What are you lot staring at?" He knew what, he was more then aware that his body was in even better shape then when he'd played Quidditch. Hermione's mouth was hanging open slightly, a bit like Cilath's was actually. Now they jumped and looked up at his face. He grabbed his under tunic and pulled it on. "I'm surprised you bothered to come to see me." he said lightly, but making sure there was an acid undertone in his voice. "After the way you lot have been acting with me, I'd have been surprised you came to see me if I was on my deathbed."

"Ron…" Cilath said warningly.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're the one who's been behaving badly. You're the one who kicked us out of your office, you're the one who hasn't spoken a kind word to anyone all this month after that first day. You're the one acting like a prick!"

"Oh so I'm a prick now am I? You lot should make up your minds, first I'm a cruel monster, now I'm a prick. Decide!" Ron snapped as he stepped into his boots and grabbed his over tunic, pulling it roughly over his head. "For the record, yes, maybe I haven't been behaving the best, but you lot haven't helped my mood by acting like I'm a monster when all I'm trying to do is keep you safe. Although what the point of that is I don't know since you'll get it into your heads that it's up to you to save the world and go off playing the heroes and looking for trouble as usual."

"Need I remind you Ron that you were always quite insistent on coming along." Hermione spat venomously.

"To look out for you guys! Not because I wanted any glory! If I hadn't have come with you, you and Harry would probably never have gotten past that giant chess set in first year."

"Yeah, and you were a real help every other year weren't you?" Harry snarled, "Stuck on the wrong side of a cave in while I'm fighting a Basilisk. Out cold in the infirmary while Hermione and I saved Sirius. Cheering in the stands while I faced Voldemort alone! Running around the Department of Mysteries like a drunken lunatic and getting in the way. Yes Ron you've been a great protector and helper for us." Ron stared at Harry in shock and a slow building fury. He wanted to punch him in the nose and crunch his glasses. He wanted to beat some sense into the boy before him. Finally he turned his body fully towards Harry and fixed him with a furious gaze that seemed to make Harry quite nervous.

"You want to play that way Harry? You want to sink that low? Well all right, I guess that's how we'll play. Do you want me to tell you what happened in The Department of Mysteries while you were off with Lucius? Do you want to know what I saw with that brain's thought crushing my bones? DO YOU?" he screamed the last part, and Harry took a step back, his eyes wide with alarm.

"That is enough!" Cilath snapped sharply, Ron had never heard her so cross. "All of you, that is enough! Now all of you get to your dormitory now! You'll get no excuses from us if you're caught after hours and it's almost curfew. And as for you…" she fixed Ron with a blazingly cold stare, "I will deal with you later." She looked at the others, "Didn't I just tell you to go?" she snapped. They scurried away, alarmed at the sight of their normal calm and warm elven teacher suddenly going cold and furious. She waited all of a minute before whirling around on Ron who felt himself rooted to the spot by her angry eyes. "I cannot believe that you could behave this badly. I can't believe that you would treat your friends like this!"

"I treat them?" Ron exclaimed furiously

"Yes, they came in here, worried about you, and you sneer at them."

"They're the ones who started it!"

"Oh, yes, go on Ron! Go and act like a child! You know the way you talk about them you'd swear that they were years younger then you. Well guess what, Harry and Hermione are the same age as you, Ginny's only a year behind and the twins are older! Yet you have an opportunity to prove your maturity and you act like a spoiled child!" she snarled heatedly. "You know what the worst of all this is for me? I not only have to watch you sulk and listen to your problems, but I know that you'd never care to listen to mine, you're so wrapped up in yourself that it doesn't matter to you that ten years ago tomorrow my father died!" Ron's eyes widened and Cilath's hand covered her mouth in shock, while tears started to pool in her eyes.

"Cilath…" Ron tried to touch her shoulder but she slapped his hand away

"No Ron! Just leave me alone!" she turned away and ran out of the door. Ron stared after her feeling shocked. Then slowly he turned his head to the only two people still in the room.

"Is it…?" Earithramir nodded solemnly

"Yes, Ron, it is. And to be truthful, she did have a good point." Ron bowed his head, he knew they were right. He'd been an absolute idiot these last few weeks, allowing his anger at the wizarding world to cloud his judgement.

"Have you ever wondered where Cilath got that scar on her arm from?" Lomli asked softly.

"The long one on her left forearm?"

"Yes that one."

"I have wondered, but I never asked, I suppose I should have."

"Well perhaps you should now." Lomli then took Earithramir's hand and they walked out, not even bidding Ron goodnight. Ron stared at the floor and felt tears suddenly rush into his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. His feet started moving but he was too wrapped up in his agonised thoughts to notice where he was going until he suddenly looked up and came face to face with a painting of a bowl of fruit. He automatically reached out and tickled the pear, and then pushed the now there door open and walked into the kitchen. It was quieter then he was used to as most of the house-elves were out and about the castle.

"Mr. Wheezy?" squeaked a familiar voice in delight.

"Hey Dobby." Ron greeted wearily. "Have you got anything that will fill me up good and proper, like some left over chicken?"

"Sir! We is giving you freshly cooked chicken!" exclaimed Dobby, sounding as it the very idea of serving anything less was a travesty. Before Ron could object a crowd of house-elves came bustling over with a plate with roast chicken and potatoes, with vegetables on the side.

"Thanks very much." Ron took the plate and sat down on the ground near the fireplace. He noted something was wrong. "Dobby, where's Winky?" At once Dobby's ears drooped slightly.

"Winky is very ill sir, she drink to much and fell ill over the summer. Madam Pomfrey is taking care of her."

"Oh, well, hopefully she'll get better soon."

"Yes we hope." Dobby nodded sagely, a rather strange thing to witness. Ron looked down at his plate and then up at Dobby and for the first time, really studied him. There was something in Dobby's eyes that made Ron feel very odd, like he'd seen them before but couldn't remember where.

"Dobby, would you sit with me for a while?" he asked finally.

"Of course, Dobby would do whatever he can to please Wheezy, great and brave friend of Harry Potter."

"Could you do me a favour and not talk about Harry?" Dobby looked taken aback but nodded and sat before Ron, crossing his skinny legs. Ron ate slowly and he let Dobby chatter about his latest addition to his sock collection, at which all the other house-elves promptly looked away. Ron looked around while Dobby explained about the wool that his socks were made of. He studied the other house-elves and realised just how bright their little eyes actually were. It looked like they were tiny stars peaking out of the dark emptiness of space. "Dobby, why do house-elves serve wizards?" he asked suddenly. Dobby nearly jumped out of his skin at his abruptness.

"Why does Wheezy want to know?"

"I'm just curious." Truth was Ron was beginning to wonder about something.

"Ah sir, house-elves is glad to serve the wizard."

"Yeah, that doesn't answer my question Dobby, please don't make me order you." Dobby seemed to sag before him and then he spoke again.

"It is our punishment. House-elves was once very bad creatures, until great and powerful wizards transformed us into what we are now. We is needing to repent so we serve wizards."

"Can you tell me what the creatures were called?" Dobby squeaked and clamped his fingers over his mouth and shook his head.

"Ah sir, don't make Dobby speak it! We do not speak of those dark times."

"Alright, alright! You don't have to tell me." Ron sighed; he didn't want Dobby hurting himself. "I think I know anyway." He stared into the fire thoughtfully, his mind taking him back to two months ago, in July, during his lessons with Glorfindel.

_(Flashback)_

"Glorfindel?"

"Yes?"

"You said that orcs were once elves, like you correct?"

"Yes, elves that were tortured and mutilated into becoming orcs."

"Well, you said that there were more then a hundred orcs, but where did the elves come from, you cannot have just lost over a hundred."

"Hmm, well Ron, you certainly ask all the right questions." Glorfindel chuckled, looking at him appraisingly. "We don't know where the orcs are coming from, it is true that they could be breeding but even they couldn't have bred this fast from only a few to start off with."

"So it's a mystery?"

"It is a mystery." Glorfindel agreed.

_(End Flashback)_

It was still a mystery, but Ron suddenly felt like he'd stepped closer to understanding it. He was sure the House Elves were involved, but how was another thing entirely. He finished his meal and ate the chocolate cake he was given and then left with a thank you. He walked slowly to his room and reluctantly opened the door. His eyes swept over the room. He'd stuck up all sorts of posters, just like in his office. The Rasmus stared down at him beside Evanescence and near them was the Chudley Cannons. Drawings by Lomli, who was quite the artist were also stuck to the wall. Cilath had also brought things she liked, paintings, statues, plants and her pet baby rabbits, who were called, Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Sam. Right now Frodo and Merry were hopping lazily around on the large bed and Sam was lying on Cilath's stomach while Pippin rested on her chest as she stroked his soft brown fur. She turned her head away from him when he came in. He sighed and walked over, kneeling down by the bed,

"I'm sorry my love. You are right. I am behaving like a child. I am so sorry." She didn't move and Pippin lifted his head in seeming protest at the halting of his petting. "I should have seen that you were upset. I shouldn't have behaved the way I did to Harry and the others. Please forgive me." He reached out and took her hand, holding it in his two. He waited, holding his breath. Finally she rolled back over and looked at him with her deep blue eyes, they were glistening with tears.

"I miss him." she said, with a sob following the words. Ron gently stroked the top of her head as she began to cry, the tears rolling down her alabaster cheeks. Sam and Pippin hopped away from her to join Frodo and Merry and she curled up into a ball crying into the pillow while Ron held her hand tightly.

"Cilath… how did you get that scar on your arm?" She looked up at him in surprise. "You don't have to tell me, but if you want to talk…" She raised her head slightly and then nodded silently, "You want to talk?"

"Yes." She shuffled away and he climbed up onto the bed, lying beside her carefully. He put an arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against his chest. "It's been ten years since he died, and I've only ever told one other person what happened."

"Who?" Ron assumed it was Legolas.

"I was in a relationship with him, and he took care of me after it."

'_Ok, not Legolas.'_ Ron decided.

"Lomli was a great comfort to me after that, especially at night."

"Lomli?" Ron sat up slightly and stared at her in shock. "You and Lomli? But I thought Lomli was…"

"Was what?" Cilath looked at him curiously. He sighed and lay back down,

"Never mind, just tell me what you want to tell me." She drew in a deep breath and then said

"Alright. Well it was like this…"

* * *

Ok, now no more until I get at least one review! I'm actually not joking!

Night's Darkness


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry it's been so long, but I was having difficulty writing this bit between Cilath and her father. I'm still not completely satisfied, but I didn't want to leave it any longer.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"I wasn't a healer at first, I was a solider, you know I'm as good at fighting as you or any one, right?"

"Yeah I know." Ron whispered.

"Well I was a commander of a platoon before we came to Rivendell. I had ten men and women under my command. I was a good leader, I know I was. But one day my team had to escort my father and a few other people across Valinor. It was a simple safety precaution because of the occasional activity of Jaffa that had been occurring recently." She swallowed hard, "We were attacked. The Jaffa used the Zat'nikatel on us, I blacked out." She took in another deep breath, "The next thing I knew…"

_(Flashback)_

She moaned as she woke up with a splitting headache, something she was not used to. She slowly sat up and observed the fact that she was alone in a cell. This did not make her feel any better. She got to her feet shakily and then walked around the cell looking for a way out. She found none.

"Hello?" she called, "Ada? Calanon? Alya?" No one answered her calls and she tried not to let the sudden rush of fear overwhelm her. She sat down, intending to rest for a while before trying to escape when the sound of very heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the door. Four Jaffa opened the door and the one at the front said coldly,

"You will follow us." A quick look at the staff weapons told her this was a good idea. She stood up again and approached them. They surrounded her and marched her away from the cell and to a lavishly decorated room, gold and red being the primary colours. Lying on a bed, surrounded by cushions, was a tall, blond, fair elf. His unmarked face was princely and his body, one of a warrior. She gasped and ran forwards and touched his shoulder,

"Ada? Ada?" she shook him slightly to try and wake him, not even noticing the Jaffa stepping outside and the door shutting. Melicndómien moaned and slowly pried his eyes open. He met her eyes and he reached out to her.

"Cilath?"

"Yes, I'm here Ada, are you all right?" He sat up and threw his arms around her, holding her close.

"Oh ield nin. Are you all right? I was so worried about you."

"I'm fine Ada, but we need to get out of here."

"Yes, I agree." They searched the room, hoping to find some way out. Cilath bit her lip nervously as she realised they were completely trapped.

"Ada, what will we do?"

"I'm not sure." he answered. She turned to look at him, that was an odd thing to say. Normally her father would have a plan, or reassure her that they would be all right, he never said he was unsure. He met her gaze and smiled briefly. The smile was cheerful, not reassuring. She shifted on her feet, subtly moving her body into a more defensive position. His eyes moved, seeming to notice but his smile stayed the same. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's strange, I wonder how long I was unconscious. For that matter, I wonder where everyone else is. And, why are you here? Why in this room?"

"I don't know ield nin, the Goa'uld are sometimes hard to figure out. Maybe the others are in other cells." He walked towards her and she took a step back. "Daughter, what's wrong?" She swallowed, staring hard at him, trying to see into his eyes. "Oh, don't worry." he cooed, reaching out and stroking her head softly. "We'll be all right." She bit her lip and then bowed her head, whimpering softly,

"Ada, can you give me a hug?" He smiled and held out his arms, wrapping them around her, pulling her close. She buried her face into his chest, hearing his heart beating within his chest, breathing in his comforting scent.

"Oh little one." he sighed, kissing the top of her head, "My princess, my Cilath." She bit down harder on her lip to keep from crying as she moved her hands up and around his neck. She closed her eyes in horror as she stroked the raised scar on the back of his neck. Then she gritted her teeth.

"I'm. Not. YOURS!" She shoved him away and lashed out, hitting him across the face and knocking him over. He sat up calmly and his eyes flashed with gold light. She gasped softly and backed away. He smirked as he stood up, and spoke in that flanged, cruel voice,

"**Very well. If I cannot have my fun that way, I shall have to find another way."** Before she could blink he strode over and grabbed her face painfully with one hand. He narrowed his eyes and leered at her. Then he shouted, **"Jaffa! Kree!"** At once the door opened and the Jaffa re-entered the room. **"Bi'bo Cilath."** Take her? Take her where? She struggled as two grabbed her arms and dragged her away, the Goa'uld following behind, a self satisfied smirk on his face. She was pulled into a dark room and she was lifted up off her feet. She kicked out but then the air was knocked out of her as she was slammed into a wall. The Jaffa released her and she stayed pressed against the wall, unable to move her body, only her head. The Goa'uld strode in and with the press of a button the room was dimly illuminated, revealing a platform with a table, covered by a sheet. He dismissed the Jaffa and then, once they were gone, he pulled the sheet away to display a frightening array of tools. Torture tools. Cilath's eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen.

"Did you do this to the others before me?" she spat viciously.

"**Yes, it was quite amusing really. They all begged me for mercy in the end."**

"Somehow I doubt that very much." she snipped.

"Oh I can assure you it is very true." He slinked up to her and reached out with one hand, stroking her cheek softly. She flinched at the touch. "What's the matter? Do you feel unworthy of the touch of a god?"

"You are no god." she hissed through clenched teeth. He scowled and drew back, striding over to the table. He picked up a knife, small and deadly. He twirled it in his fingers, the light catching off the metal and reflecting against the wall in a hypnotising way. He pressed the side lightly against her cheek. She bit her lip, but then schooled her features, refusing to show him fear. His blue eyes, that matched her own, bore into her coldly, obviously searching for a show of fear. She refused to give it to him. He seemed annoyed and then she gasped as the cold blade cut into her skin, slowly moving down her face. She could feel the blood ooze out and then trickle slowly down her cheek. She stared at the floor and refused to move the little she could, refused to give him that satisfaction. He sighed and backed away, tapping his chin with the flat side of the knife thoughtfully.

"**It would appear that you are as strong willed as my new host. It must run in the family."** She swallowed and focused on the floor, how the speckles of silver in the black onyx formed fascinating patterns. **"No matter, he gave into me and so will you eventually."**

"Never." she said calmly, her eyes never wavering. "I'll never give in to a snake head like you." He growled again and suddenly pain exploded in her shoulder. She cried out in agony as he twisted the knife before drawing it out slowly. He then moved it down and lightly stroked over her mid-section with the blood-covered point. The slightly jagged edge of the knife caught the tiny threads of the material she wore and ripped through them. She shuddered, feeling light headed as blood flowed from her wound. He snickered

"**I know what you're thinking. This can only last until he kills me and then it will all be over."** He stroked her unmarked cheek. **"Oh my little princess, nothing could be further from the truth. I'm sure you are aware of the powers of the sarcophagus. How it can heal any wounds, even reanimate the dead if the body is placed in it within a time limit."** Her eyes instantly flew up to meet his as the true horror of her situation hit her. **"Yes,"** he whispered, running his fingers through her hair, **"I can torture you to death and then bring you back, and each time you go through it you shall lose another part of that pointless morality that you elves hold to so rigidly."** Cilath trembled in utter fear, she knew that the sarcophagus would slowly destroy her soul as payment for bringing her back again and again. He smiled at her sweetly and she burst into tears as the smile was so like the one her father would give her when they were together. She wept uncontrollably at the hopelessness of her situation. Darkness crept over her eyes and she gave in without a fight, unable to look at his face one second more.

* * *

"Cilath? Cilath, wake up." She moaned and opened her eyes, blinking blearily to clear her vision. A flash of gold attracted her attention and she focused on it. "Come Cilath, clear your eyes and see me." She finally managed to make out bright blue eyes, and then full lips, set in a strong, lean jaw.

"Ada?" The lips smiled in absolute relief, and he bent down, kissing her brow.

"Oh my daughter, I was worried about you."

"W-What happened?"

"We were ambushed, I think we were the only survivors. No, don't try to sit up, you received severe blow to the head, I don't want you to pass out on me again." She looked over his shoulder as he stroked her cheek and neck soothingly, looking her over with a father's eye. She saw above them was all brown.

"Where are we?"

"A holding cell. I'm not sure for how long." He leaned down closer again, "Are you all right? You were calling out terrible things in your dreams." She frowned lightly and then her eyes widened as she remembered

"Ada, oh velar, I, I dreamt you had been made into a goa'uld. You, he, he did-"

"Shh…" he soothed, resting his fingertips on her lips. "It's all right, I'm still me, I'm still your father." He smiled, cupping her cheek, so gentle. She leaned into it, lifting her own hand to hold it there.

"Ada." she whispered, relief flooding through her body as she realised that he was really here with her. She felt safe with him, even in the hands of the enemy. He smiled down at her sweetly, tenderly, a father's smile.

"Cilath." he whispered back. "I'm glad you are all right."

"I know Ada. Amin mela lle." _(I love you)_

"And I you my daughter." He leaned closer, and then suddenly pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was decidedly not platonic. She pushed against his shoulder and he pulled away only to smile cruelly down at her, "You said you loved me, so I'm doing what is my right to do." He smirked and his eyes flashed golden light.

"NO!" She hit him hard across the face but he barely flinched and pinned her wrists to the ground, leaning down to kiss her again. She struggled but his elven strength, combined with the added strength a symbiote gives made him too strong for even a seasoned warrior like herself to fight off. She screamed against him and he pulled away looking mildly irritated, then it changed to amusement. He released one wrist and touched her face again.

"I'm going to enjoy destroying that light in your eyes. Perhaps then you will be a good host." She snarled at him,

"Auta miqula orqu!" _(Go kiss an orc)_ He slapped her sharply across the face and then lifted her up and slammed her back down to the ground. She choked as all the air was knocked out of her and her head exploded with pain. She lay still, dazed and barely aware of anything around her.

She must have blacked out again because the next thing she knew she was back in the room, stuck against the wall like a magnet and he pulled out a jar with a tube for a lid. He stared at her and then held it out. As if attracted to her a drop of liquid formed at the tip of the nozzle, grew and then flew through the air and landed against her top, just below her collar bone. She gasped and then bit her lip as the liquid ate through the material and burned her skin like a brand. Acid. Her skin prickled so agonisingly. He chuckled and held out the jar again. Another drop hit her and ate away at her clothes, attacking her skin. "What do you want?" she asked softly, openly wondering what would come from this. She tried not to look at him, not look at the face she'd grown up adoring.

"**I want to watch you break. I want to see that beautiful light in your eyes die slowly. I want to see you bow to me. I want you to worship me as the God I am."**

"You are no god!" He sneered and held the jar out again. She gasped as the acid ate away at her flesh. Then he drew out a dagger and after admiring it for a few moments he threw it at her. She cried out as it pierced her shoulder. He drew another out and it too was thrown, embedding itself in her leg. Pain shot through her body and she bit her lip, desperate not to cry out and give the goa'uld satisfaction. Tears leaked from her eyes and she clenched her fists tightly. The next dagger was drawn and meticulously he poured the acid over the blade, before flicking it straight into her breast. She screamed at the utter agony of the impalement. The acid ate through her like a monster, and she choked and gasped, unable to breath. Her shirt was quickly soaked with hero own blood and the darkness closed around her and she fell into it, tears streaming down her cheeks.

* * *

It was a cycle, torture and death, torture and death, she'd lost count of the amount of times he'd killed her. She wanted nothing more then to escape but every thing she tried the Goa'uld anticipated. This was unending, and her mind could no longer focus on reality, and she was unsure what was dreamed and what was real.

"**You have surprised me, I didn't expect you to last this long."** The goa'uld stroked her hair, something he seemed to have a fondness for doing. She lay there, perfectly still, what was the point of moving? **"Still you have proven me right. With persistence one can achieve anything."** He brushed a kiss across her lips and then stood up. **"Kree!"** he called, summoning the Jaffa. No one came. **"Jaffa! Kree!"** Still no one came. The goa'uld frowned, his fair face creasing. Suddenly the door burst open and a troop of Jaffa entered the room.

"My lord! We have intruders. They are heading this way."

"**What?" **the goa'uld snarled

"We must move, for your safety."

"Why does a god need protection." Cilath asked softly, slowly raising her head. "Shouldn't he protect you." The goa'uld snarled and slapped her sharply across the face.

"**Take her, and come, we must leave."** A Jaffa scooped her up into his strong arms and they quickly walked out of the room and down the corridor. Cilath moaned, her side was dripping blood from a thin, long cut made by a jagged dagger and her ankle was sprained. The Jaffa's swift movements made her dizzy and jostled her injuries.

"Tolo hi! Hurry!" a light voice cried, an elvish voice. Woozily she lifted her head and listened to more shouts in the elvish tongue.

"**Come! We shall make our way to Delmack."** the goa'uld said, heading for one of their air-ships. Cilath knew that the torment would continue if they got away, and she just couldn't take that any more. So she closed her eyes and visualised the flame of Mirkwood that she carried within her soul. She concentrated on it and it burst into strength, fuelled by the fury and hatred she'd come to feel for the creature that mocked her father's body.

Her hands shot out and twisted the Jaffa's neck, breaking it. They both tumbled to the ground. She quickly grabbed the zat'nika'tel from the forearm holster on the Jaffa's armour and used it on the reacting Jaffa that intended to subdue her. One by one they fell to the ground, and she made sure to hit each twice, killing them. The goa'uld whirled around as its solders were killed and then took off, running down the corridor. She stared after him, knowing what she was meant to do, but feeling her heart break as she accepted it.

"This way." cried the elf, she now recognised the voice. It was her uncle. "Cilath!" he cried as they finally caught up with her. She turned around and looked at him blankly as he leapt at her, crushing her into a hug. "You're alive, I feared the worst." She didn't return the hug and he pulled away, picking up on her obvious stiffness. She stared in to his eyes that were so like her father's and zatted him. Legolas gasped and fell to the ground, stunned. She held the weapon out threateningly when the others tried to come closer to her. She felt cold, emotionless, and a desire to kill rose up within her like she'd never felt before. Slowly she backed away, paying her ankle no mindand then ran down the corridor after the goa'uld. She didn't know how she knew it, but she seemed to be following an invisible line, one that lead her straight to the goa'uld as he was about to open the air-ship door.

Don't move." she told him, the snake shaped zat'nikatel held tight in her hand. He froze and then slowly turned around, smiling.

"**So you have come to kill me have you? Come to end your pathetic father's suffering?"**

"Yes." she answered calmly, stepping closer, "Don't think I won't kill you."

"**I doubt you could even bring yourself to stun me."** She pressed the button and the electric blue discharge struck him, knocking him off his feet.

"I guess you don't know me as well as you thought. Or maybe you aided me in becoming able to do this." He sat up slowly, finally aware of the danger he was in.

"**Will you be able to live yourself if you kill me? Kill your father?"**

"My father is dead. You saw to that." Something in her told her that this wasn't her, that she wasn't this cold but at the same time she didn't care. "I'm no stranger to killing. I'm a soldier, like he was, like all the Mirkwood children are." She raised the zat'nikatel again and steeled herself to fire. Her moment's hesitation gave him a chance to spring forward and tackle her. The weapon flew from her grip and skidded across the floor. She kicked out and knocked him away. He staggered back into a pedestal, and the vase atop it fell to the floor and shattered. She whirled around and looked for the zat'nikatel. It had skittered into the far corner. She rushed over and grabbed it, turning around. His face loomed above her as she did. A piece of the vase in his grip. He slashed down with it and she raised her arm to protect her face. She screamed as the piece of porcelain speared her arm and dragged through skin and muscle to her elbow. She heard his harsh breathing and felt it on her cheek as he pulled the crystal out sharply. She screamed again, and shot with the zat'nikatel. He staggered back from her, stunned again, and she aimed it again, with a shaking uninjured arm. She drew in a deep breath,

"Cilath!" cried Legolas as he burst in, just as she shot. The goa'uld jerked and shook and then crumpled to the ground. Dead. The silence was ringing and she dropped her arm, trembling from head to foot. "Cilath?" Legolas called softly, stepping closer. When he tried to put his hand on her shoulder she shrugged him off sharply, and backed away from him, frightened. "Cilath, I won't hurt you, please we, we need to go now."

"I killed him." she whimpered.

"I know, but you had to. You ended his suffering." Legolas tried to soothe, "Please Cilath, we must go, we only came for you and the others, but we cannot find them."

"He, he said they were dead. I think I'm the last one. He saved me till last." her voice shook with the last few words.

"Cilath, come on." Legolas urged, sounding worried, "We have to go now!"

"Wait!" she cried, and her legs buckled so she had to crawl over to her father's body. She pressed a hand to his chest, her blood staining his clothes. "They'll revive him with a sarcophagus." she moaned.

"Then we'll take him with us."

"He'll slow us down, and we can't risk it." Her eyes fell upon the zat'nikatel, and she knew what to do. Raising it a final time, she met Legolas' despairing, but resigned eyes. He understood. She fired. The body was vaporised, vanishing before their eyes and the zat'nikatel fell to the ground.

_(End Flashback)_

"I don't know how we got out, it's all a blur. The next thing I remember clearly was being in the hospital wing on Valinor, with my family around me. I'd been there five weeks, drifting in and out, dieing of grief I suppose. I don't even remember what brought me back." her voice was a whisper, tears leaking down her face as she pressed it into Ron's chest.

"Oh Cilath." Ron sighed softly, hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry. To have to do that."

"I killed my father, and through that I killed my mother. She faded away after I woke up, I only got a chance to say goodbye quickly." she sobbed, gripping his shirt tightly.

"You saved him, and your mother is probably happy where she is now, with him." Ron tried to consol her.

"That's what I keep telling myself, but it doesn't stop the pain."

"I don't think the pain should stop, because if it did you wouldn't be the woman I fell in love with." Ron whispered into her hair. She sniffed and gave him a watery smile,

"Thank you Ron. For listening to me."

"I should have been listening from the very beginning. I know I've got to sort myself out now. And I will, don't worry."

"I know you will." She wiped her face and then sat up, her face taking on a sudden shock of remembrance. "I forgot! Your vision. What was it of?"

"Oh, yeah, right." Ron told her what he'd seen.

"So what does this all mean?"

"I think it means that it was more then coincidence that lead Voldemort to wanting to kill Harry and I think Snape is the reason behind it."

"Which would make him indirectly responsible for the death of Harry's parents, wouldn't it?"

"Yep. And Dumbledore knew it." Ron was scowling. He wondered if Harry knew, and then decided that he wouldn't speak of this to Harry in case. His gut told him no good would come of it. "Look, I'm not going to tell Harry about the vision, but I will apologise to him and the others, even if it doesn't change how I feel. Ok?" She nodded wordlessly, smiling at him. "I'm going to try to lighten up in class too. I've just been in a foul mood this last while."

"So I've noticed." she chuckled, before kissing him softly. He stroked her face lightly, and then stood up.

"I'll put Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Sam back in the hutch while you get ready for bed. I think we both need sleep." She nodded and got up as well, changing into her nightgown. Ron carefully put the rabbits in their hutch and then changed as well. He lay down in between the covers and spooned his body around hers and held her close. "I love you." he whispered into her delicately pointed ear.

"I love you." she told him as her eyes unfocused as she slipped into sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, two other lovers were being a bit more active with each other. Earithramir was kissing down Lomli's body while the blonde moaned softly, tugging at the darker hair. Suddenly he tightened his grip and pulled Earithramir up to meet his lips in a hungry kiss. As they pulled apart for air, Lomli shifted so they were lying on their sides, facing each other. They pressed their foreheads together and were content to lie still for the moment, neither was in any hurry.

"Do you think Cilath's alright?" Earithramir asked.

"If Ron came to his senses by now, then I think she'll be alright." Lomli answered.

"I'm worried about her."

"I know, me too."

"She's suffering within the walls."

"She's not the only one." Lomli muttered, smiling briefly. "But I know what you mean. She's never truly recovered from what happened with her father." He ran his hand up Earithramir's side, making him shiver. "I hope Ron will help her, the way I couldn't."

"You did help her, but she needed more then one person to speak to. Don't worry about it, you did all you could." He pulled him closer, and nuzzled his face. Lomli smiled again, and then kissed him softly, and soon they were returning to their previous state of pleasure.

* * *

"Good morning class." Earithramir grinned, sitting on his desk, legs crossed. The class gave a few mutterings of greetings. "Not in the best of moods today I see. Well let's see what we can do about that." He hopped off the table and seemed to think. "Yes Hermione?" he asked as she raised a hand,

"Where's Cilath?"

"I'm afraid she's, um, not feeling the best. She won't be joining us today."

"I thought elves don't get sick."

"They don't, I'm just using it as an excuse for her as she is currently mourning for her father who died today a few years ago and the pain is raw." Honestly, sometimes people won't take a hint. Hermione blushed and lowered her head.

"Is Ron alright now?" Neville asked quietly.

"Yes, he'll be fine, he collapsed due to exhaustion. He's been very busy and worried lately. Defending a school like this isn't easy."

"But we haven't been attacked yet."

"Maybe not but organising the troops, the lookouts, and everything else, it's exhausting. Couple it with teaching all of you and you can't blame him really with being irritable."

"Well I hope he stops being irritable, he's making me jumpy in class."

"Well tell him that. He's still your friend, even if he's got the temper of a grouchy dragon at the moment." The class tittered and seemed to cheer up. "Better. Now, how about we talk about… the muggle world."

"Isn't this a history class."

"Technically yes, but I don't have my partner in crime with me today so I'd rather we discuss other things, besides, part of this class isn't just to make you memorise creatures and dates and events. Part of history is analysing it, discussing the events or motives behind it. History is a part of everything, including the basic beliefs of human rights." He walked over and picked up a piece of chalk and began tossing it in his hand. "Now, I know some of you are muggle born, and others are not. But let me ask you all this, in your opinion, what are muggles like? How do you see them?" there was silence as people thought carefully, and then Seamus slowly raised his hand,

"They're more rigidly minded."

"How so?"

"Well, they're so hard to convince of magic, they refuse to believe in anything that can't be explained with science."

"Yes, but I think muggles aren't given enough credit by wizards." Hermione piped up, raising her hand, "I mean wizards are dependant on their magic to a fault. Without it a wizarding raised person wouldn't have a clue how to live in the muggle world, and muggles have achieved things a wizard never has through technology."

"That's a good point on both parts." Earithramir agreed. "On the one hand, they are very disbelieving without scientific back up, and on the other, they have done things wizards probably couldn't. Like put a man on the moon. No wizard has ever done that." A few students looked shocked at this revelation. Wizard born students.

"Put a man on the moon?" Neville asked wide eyed.

"Absolutely." Earithramir grinned, "1960's, Neil Armstrong, 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'. Personally I think that should be changed to 'One small step for muggles, one giant leap for muggle kind.'" Lavender giggled.

"Wizards didn't have a hand in that?" asked Harry.

"Not a finger. Which is good I think. Imagine it. If wizards used magic to help build the rocket, then Valar knows what could have gone wrong." Earithramir noticed how surprised Harry looked and sighed, "Just because magic gets things done quicker doesn't make them any better. The muggles have a better form of communication than wizards ever did."

"The Internet." Hermione said with a proud smile.

"Exactly." Earithramir nodded, then noticed the wizard borns looked lost. "You lot should be taking Muggle Studies."

"It doesn't cover the internet till seventh year." Hermione told him. Earithramir groaned.

"For goodness sake you should know this stuff anyway. I know you have to hide but magic makes you take for granted all the wonderful things muggles have achieved. You cannot think that magic makes you better then them."

"That's Slytherin thinking." Dean spat.

"Well let me ask you this. If you were given a choice, between using a wizard object or a muggle object that produced the exact same results, which would you choose. You'd all choose the wizard one wouldn't you." No one denied this. "Why? Don't say it out loud, just keep it in your head. But think carefully and be honest with yourself." He gave them a moment and then said "I shall leave it at that." He sat down on the desk again. "So who do you think Rachel will end up with in 'Friends'?"

* * *

Ron sighed as he called out orders to the first years. They were so small. He was sure he was never that short. Harry maybe, but not the rest of the year.

"Captain Balanidhren!" an elf called him away, emerging from the trees on his horse.

"Take over Lomli, I'll be back." he said absently, and walked over to meet the elf. "What is it?"

"We need you to come into the forest. There are two men who claim to be of the Tok'ra, and they say they have important news for you."

"I see. Alright, let me call Urúvion and I'll come." Ron walked away and quickly told Lomli the situation.

"You'll be gone for a while then. Do you want me to continue the fourth years' class with hand to hand?"

"Please mellon nin. I'll be back as soon as I can. But Tanith might not be very accommodating in that sense."

"How do you know it's Tanith?"

"I got a feeling. Must be a side effect of the visions." Ron winked at him and then whistled for Urúvion. He mounted the animal and then rejoined the messenger. They cantered through the forest, heads down, and Ron silently praying not to run into Aragog's family. It took two hours of solid riding to reach the other side of the forest where a camp had been set up. The elves kept vigils per week, changing on the seventh day. Seated among them were two men. The sandy haired one was tall and he had a mega watt smiled as he conversed with one elf. The smaller, dark haired one was quiet and his face was devoid of humour.

'_So I was right. Tanith and Hebron, and Martouf and Lantash. Half right anyway.'_ Ron inwardly smiled.

"Mae Govannen mellon nin." he called as he dismounted. Both Tok'ra stood up. Martouf/Lantash smiled that blinding smile and shook his hand.

"It is good to see you again Balanidhren." Ah! Martouf was in control at the moment.

"And you Martouf. Tanith." Ron greeted the two of them.

"Hello Balanidhren." Tanith said softly.

"So what brings you to my neck of the woods?" The Tok'ra both smiled, Martouf wider then Tanith.

"We have important news for you."

"Oh?"

"It is in regards to a new weapon the goa'uld are developing, with some aid from Voldemort."

"What kind of weapon?"

"It's a retro virus." Tanith explained, "If it infects a human it will search their bodies for a specific gene, and eradicate it."

"What gene?"

"The wizarding gene."

"WHAT!" The birds flew from their trees in fright at Ron's shout. "Are you telling me that they're trying to infect wizards with a virus that will destroy their magic?"

"Not the magic itself, just the ability to use it."

"Oh that's so much better." Ron snipped, throwing a hand up, and then resting it on top of his head and then dragging it over his face. "Is this the kind of virus that can be passed from person to person by touch or through the air or something?"

"Not yet. Frankly it's not even ready, I'm on the team that is making it and I'm doing all I can to slow their process. But the sooner you knew the sooner you could try to protect yourselves, I can't do much or else I will give us away and we will be executed." Tanith sighed. It was strange that Tok'ra sometimes referred to themselves and their symbiote or vice versa. Martouf's eyelids drooped and his head fell forward, his chin touching his chest. Then he raised it again and his face seemed sterner, colder. Lantash was now in control,

"**You must recognise the usefulness of such a virus if it could be contained."**

"Usefulness?"

"**You could use it to stop Voldemort. Infect him, he wouldn't be able to use magic ever again."**

"And who will commit suicide doing the infecting?" Ron asked, although he had to admit it was an intriguing idea.

"**If the virus could be controlled, then you could use it on any magical criminals." **Ron groaned,

"That's not up to me, although I have a feeling Scrimgeour will jump at the idea. Look, if you can get me the virus good, but it can't be allowed to stay in the enemies grasp, so if you have to destroy it-." He suddenly widened his eyes as a realisation hit him. "They're going to use it on Voldemort. Once he's out lived his usefulness they'll use it on him. He'll be powerless."

"There is a strong possibility, yes." Tanith agreed, "But right now they are having difficulty locating the gene that allows wizards to channel magic. The specimens are quite different."

"Specimens?"

"Lucius Malfoy is our pureblood specimen. And Jacob McNally is our muggleborn specimen."

"Malfoy's a lab rat?" Ron couldn't help but enjoy that thought

"Essentially yes." Tanith nodded.

"Does it hurt?"

"Only when I shoot him with my zat'nikatel."

"Would you call them zats for goodness sake? Zat'nikatel is such a mouthful." The tok'ra shared a look and the Lantash spoke again,

"**Have you seen or heard anything in the area since you arrived?"**

"Not yet, and there's nothing happening in Hogsmead, but I know they'll come sooner or later, Hogwarts is a tempting place."

"I'm sure." Tanith smirked. Ron managed to keep his face straight.

"What's the difference between the muggle borns and the wizard borns?"

"We're not too sure, but there seems to be a more complex gene in the muggle borns." Ron's eyes widened at that. He'd have assumed the opposite. "It's actually quite fascinating."

"Yeah, well, I'd prefer if less was known then more."

"Of course."

"What's the story on the Goa'uld Lords?" The Lords were the ones that posed as the highest of Gods. Osiris, Ra, Athena and Hathor were the strongest among them, and they were in a constant state of war with each other. Lantash and Tanith shared an uncomfortable look, "What?" Ron groaned.

"**The Lords have decided that… for now, they will work together."** Ron gaped at him, and then threw his hands up,

"Oh that's just great. Really great! One of the reasons I haven't had to worry about these guys too much is because they're so busy fighting with each other that they aren't bothered to help Voldemort put. Now you're telling me that's changed?"

"**I'm afraid so." **

"Oh wonderful, so we can expect an attack soon enough."

"**Most likely."**

"Super." Ron grimaced, "Is that everything or do you have more bad news?"

"**That is all our information for now."** Lantash said coldly, he clearly didn't appreciate Ron's sarcasm. _'I miss Martouf'_

"Ok then, you want to stay for dinner?"

"**No thank you. We must return to our posts."**

"Well… thanks for the info, keep me posted." Ron nodded to them. They both nodded back and then Ron remounted Urúvion. "You sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Both shook their heads. "Alright. Noro lim Urúvion, I'm getting hungry." The horse took off, disappearing into the dark forest.

* * *

I'm sure you guys know how this works, review and I update, I'm getting on a roll again, but I'm just having a lot of fun with my ST:Enterprise Shran stories. The poor guy's been neglected.

Night's Darkness


	9. Chapter 9

Again I'm sorry about lack of updates but well… my profile explains it.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"Harry! Harry wait!" Harry hesitated at the threshold of the Gryffindor tower. He reluctantly turned around, a frown on his face, to face Ron as he ran lightly up the steps. He came to a slow, light stop and drew in a breath to catch his.

"What?" Harry asked coolly. He was still angry over Ron's behaviour the night before.

"I'm sorry." Ron said calmly.

"What?"

"I said, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. It wasn't fair of me, especially since you were there to make sure I was ok." Ron held his hand out and gave him an imploring look. Harry hesitated, and then felt his coldness melt and he smiled, gripping his old friend's hand.

"It's ok, forget about it. I guess I should understand, I mean you have been under a lot of pressure, and maybe I wasn't very fair to you. If living this life makes you happy, I suppose that's that. I shouldn't be judgemental."

"Thanks mate. And just so you know, if you need to talk, well…"

"I know." Harry nodded, grinning as Ron gave him an awkward smile, while their hands let go of each other. It was a Ron smile and he'd really missed them.

"Is Hermione inside?"

"Yeah, and I'd say Fred and George and Ginny are too."

"Ah, good, I owe them an apology too." Ron extended his arm, indicating that Harry should go ahead of him. Harry obeyed and stepped inside and Ron followed, having to stoop he'd gotten so tall. The common room went deadly silent as people realised he was there. "Valar how much of a prick have I been these last few weeks."

"A fairly big one." Harry admitted, smiling easily as Ron groaned and rubbed the back of his head. His blue eyes swept over the common room and paused on each of his siblings who were scowling and Hermione who was refusing to look at him.

"Oh for goodness sake. Look, I'm sorry everyone!" Ron exclaimed, making a few first years jump. "I'm sorry I've been such a prick and an ass, and any other name you've called me behind my back. I really am, and I'm going to try to stop acting like such. So I hope you'll all forgive me." There was silence and then Dean called out,

"Well since you did admit to being a prick I think I can forgive you."

"Thanks Dean." Ron grinned, "Anyone else want to take a stab, I think I can take it." The common room filled with laughter and more people yelled out insults, which Ron took with smiles and laughter. Finally they all calmed and Fred and George had taken at least ten stabs at him and he just laughed so they forgave him. Hermione finally smiled at him and hugged him fiercely. Ginny was the last to forgive but eventually she did, but you could tell that she wasn't happy about Ron's work anymore than she had been before.

"So Ron, what else did you learn in Rivendell apart from fighting?" asked Lavender coyly. She and the rest of the year had heard the rumours of Ron and Lomli being a couple, and she was determined to find out the truth.

"Well, I learned that trees can talk, and uh, I learned that elves can get hyper when they listen to modern muggle music. Seriously, you should see them, Cilath was out of her mind, she kept pulling me onto the grass to dance with her, I was shattered by the end, and then I had to go learn how to be an animagus."

"You're an animagus!" exclaimed Hermione. Ron blushed,

"Well, yeah."

"Cool, what are you?"

"I'd rather not say."

"It's probably a slimy ugly little frog."

"No that's yours Fred, I checked." Ron smirked. Before Fred could retort the portrait swung open and Lomli stepped inside,

"Here you are! I've been all over the school looking for you." the blond elf scolded.

"Aw I'm sorry. What did you want?"

"To give you this." Lomli held out a small scroll. "It's a request of the soldiers." Ron took it and opened it. It was covered in some fancy writing that Harry couldn't read. Ron's eyes flew over it and his eyebrows rose to his hairline.

"Are you sure Lomli? I mean, I don't know."

"We're sure, we're perfectly capable."

"I know that, but still, I mean these guys are great." Ron motioned to his brothers and Harry.

"Great at what?"

"Quidditch of course. The elves want to challenge the students to a match next weekend." The excitement in the room rose instantly.

"What do you say Harry?" Lomli grinned. "Will you accept?" Harry looked at his team, at Fred and George's eager faces and Ron's amused one, and then stuck out his hand.

"You're on." he smirked, as Lomli shook it.

"Can't wait." the elf smirked. Ron chuckled and shook his head.

"This is going to end in bruises." he promised.

"Only on the students." Lomli smirked again.

"Oh no, on you elves. You're going down. Quidditch is our game!" Fred exclaimed.

"Well we'll see." Lomli said, his green eyes twinkling. "We've been practising over the summer with Ron's help." Ron groaned, "And I think we can take you."

"We shall certainly see."

"Very well then. Ron, by the way, Earithramir wants a word with you." Lomli said as he walked out.

"I'll be along in a while. You going out?"

"I've got first watch of the night." Lomli told him.

"Oh alright. See you tomorrow."

"Namarie Balanidhren." Ron gave a sloppy two-fingered salute at Lomli's back as he stepped back outside.

"I really hate it when my friends call me that. It's so formal." he grumbled.

"What's it mean?"

"It's my own name translated literally into elvish. Ronald means 'Wise Dominion' and I translated that into Balanidhren, although a more exact translation is 'Wise Power' because there's no real direct translation for 'Wise Dominion'"

"Cool."

"Your name is completely inappropriate you do realise." Fred grinned. Ron smirked dangerously,

"Don't make me take a house point off for rudeness Fred." Fred gaped at him in shock. "I did say I had that power, and it doesn't just apply to the Slytherins, although I must say I enjoy being able to do that to them after all the crap Snape got up to."

"He still does in DADA."

"How's that going by the way?" Ron walked over and sat in the couch where he, Harry and Hermione used to do their homework.

"It's a bloody nightmare!" Ginny exclaimed, "He's worse in Defence than he was in Potions!"

"He is teaching us a useful thing though." Hermione pointed out reluctantly, as though something was forcing her to stick up for Snape against her will. "Non verbal spells." Ron winced.

"Ouch, yeah I remember them, Snape taught them to me, Potions and Defence, nightmare. Thank the Valar for Cilath."

"Cilath?"

"She took Potions because she was curious and she stuck around after it for Defence because she found watching the spells fascinating." Ron chuckled fondly. "She was helpful because she took non of Snape's crap. She can seem soft but you haven't been on the wrong end of a sword with her. Scary as hell when she wants to be. Told Snape exactly what she thought and he couldn't contradict her because of her uncle."

"Her uncle?"

"The elves answer to… King Arthur I suppose, if Gandalf is Merlin, and Elrond… no Elrond is Arthur, and Legolas is Lancelot, a warrior, not a king, even if he is a prince."

"Doesn't that make Cilath a princess?" Ginny asked, she hadn't been in that first class with the sixth years.

"It does indeed."

"She looks like the princesses out of fairy tales." Neville sighed dreamily amid a little laughter at him. Ron chuckled and nodded.

"All the elves do, in case you haven't noticed." He yawned and leaned his head back. "Oi! I'm beat! I think I'll go find out what Earithramir wanted and then head to bed. I want to sleep for a week, but with the elves rising at dawn…yeah, I think I'll go now. Night guys!" There was a chorus of

"Night Ron!" as he stepped out of the portrait hole. Then he paused and stepped back.

"Just for a warning guys, the elves may not be wizards, but they do have Firebolts that they spent the summer breaking in for the school." He then left with a laugh at the twins bug-eyed expressions. Harry swallowed,

"We need to practise."

* * *

Ron hurried down the steps to his bedroom. After a quick word with Earithramir regarding some concern he had about the students attitudes to muggles, to which he'd given him his full confidence to correct, he now wanted nothing more than to sleep. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. Looking around he was surprised, and slightly alarmed to see that Cilath was not here. He looked around carefully, in case he'd missed her, and then he sighed and changed into his pyjamas. He decided to just go to sleep, she'd made it clear that she wanted to be alone today. Still, he found he couldn't sleep, and after three hours, he realised that he'd become too used to her company at night. He got up and changed into loose trousers and a tunic, and pulled on his light shoes. He then set off, wondering just where his elven princess could be. Suddenly he had an idea. He clapped his hands and called,

"Dobby!" lightly.

Crack!

At once Dobby appeared, still wearing his tea cosy.

"Yes Master Whezzy?"

"Dobby, have you seen Cilath?"

"I has, Mistress Cilath is in the library, and she has asked that no one disturb her."

"Why not? What's she doing?"

"Dobby does not know, however she said that she wished to be left alone." Ron debated his options, keep going or go back to bed. Cilath might get mad if he went to the library, and it was probably best if he went back to bed. On the other hand… Ron was worried about her.

"I'm going to go on in to check on her, just to see that she's alright. Thanks Dobby."

"Good luck." Dobby whispered before disappearing again.

"If she gets mad with me I may just need it." Ron muttered, before heading to the library. He hesitated outside the door and then, deciding that he must have a subconscious death wish, he went inside. It was mainly dark inside the room that smelled like old books, a smell that reminded Ron of Hermione fondly, but there was a light coming from the back. He walked down the aisle, deliberately making noise with his footsteps so she wouldn't be alarmed. Besides, it's not like he would get in trouble. He came upon her, bent over a book, at least six others lying open around her. She had tied her hair back into a high ponytail, making her look oddly young, a small frown of concentration on her face. Ron coughed lightly to get her attention.

"What is it Ron?" she asked without looking up.

"I came to see if you were ok."

"I am, I'm just busy."

"Doing what?"

"Research."

"I can see that. Could you be more specific?" she sighed, and sat back.

"I'm doing research on the Gods of Mythology."

"Oh you are?"

"Yes. I want to see if your books have any more data than the muggles databanks."

"And?"

"And you don't appear to. Although there are several variants of famous legends." She lightly slapped the book she'd been pouring over. Ron was glad Madam Pince wasn't around to see that.

"Have you been here all day?"

"Yes, Madam Pince was kind enough to put up a screen so I wouldn't be disturbed."

"Yes that was nice of her." Ron walked around and put his hands on her shoulders, beginning to lightly massage them. She leaned her head back after a moment, her eyes closed. He could feel tension that had built up in her begin to melt away. He let his fingers travel from the soft cloth of her dress to her softer skin, stroking it lightly.

"Ron…" she whispered, "Is that all you ever think about?"

"Hard not to." he said, bending forward and kissing the crook of her neck lightly. "You're just so beautiful." He pushed the cloth out of his way as he made his way along her shoulder. She gasped lightly. Suddenly he pulled away, a sudden thought hitting him. She looked up at him curiously, confusion darkening her eyes.

"Something wrong?"

"I just realised I'm a teacher now." he said blandly.

"Only now?" she asked, standing up, looking concerned now.

"Yup! I can go into the Restricted Section now!" Ron grinned mischievously, and he took her hand. "Come on!"

"But my research-"

"Never mind it! Come on!" he pulled her down the aisle, grinning madly as he strode into the Restricted Section. A shiver went down his spine as he looked around. This was strange, he'd tried to get into the Restricted Section before but had always failed, now he stood inside it and all the books, neatly lined in their selves, seemed to stare at him. He grinned even more widely and, still pulling Cilath along, he went to the nearest shelf and ran his fingers over the spines lightly.

"I've never seen you so excited by books." Cilath said, a small smile on her face. Ron grinned wordlessly at her and then ran his fingers over the next shelf. As he touched it, one of the books trembled. He felt Cilath jump beside him. "Do you hear that?" she asked

"What?"

"Whispers." She moved away from him and into the centre of the area. "They're coming from the books."

"That doesn't surprise me, these are enchanted books. Lots of them can talk. Hermione gave me a talking Homework Planner last year."

"There's so many of them, I can't understand what they're saying." Her eyes were wide and wandering over the rows and rows of books. The moonlight shone through the long windows and illuminated her so she looked more magical than ever.

"I can't even hear them." Ron let his eyes wander briefly over the books and then back to her, watching her as she pulled out a book that caught her attention. She opened it up and the book snarled at her. She dropped it in shock. The book snarled again, lying with its pages facing the floor and from under the cover a hand emerged, decaying and gruesome as it slowly reached out to Cilath. She backed away, completely shocked. Ron bolted forward and kicked the book shut. "You ok?"

"The… that… I…" she stammered, her eyes wide in fright now. "I've never seen anything like that."

"Magic melamin." he told her, bending down and picking the book up and putting it back. She looked shaken. "Perhaps we should come back during the day. I'm shattered anyway. I only came looking for you so I could sleep easy."

"You were worried about me?"

"Of course I was." He smiled and she hugged him, kissing his cheek. He suddenly bent down and scooped her up into his arms. She squeaked in surprise but then relaxed into his grip. He carried her out of the library and back to their bed, where they slept blissfully.

* * *

"Madame Pince I am sorry but I was tired and I wanted to continue my work." Cilath sometimes wished she had magic like Ron did, especially now since she dearly wanted to curse the woman in front of her. Madame Pince had put away everything she'd left the night before and refused to tell her where the books were or what she'd done with the notes she'd made. "I did not realise that it was a rule that I had to put away books if I was still using them."

"It shouldn't need to be stated!" Madame Pince exclaimed, "It's a fact! And what's more, you left them all open! Anything could have happened!" Behind the mad woman Cilath could see several students giving her sympathetic looks. Apparently they'd all suffered at the hand of Madame Pince.

"Well look Madame Pince, I have apologised three times now, and I promise that in future I shall indeed put the books away. But I need access to the library! It's one of the most extensive in the United Kingdom, and I have to do my research to help Ron and the others fight Voldemort and the Goa'uld." Madame Pince winced at the name, like nearly every other wizard and witch Cilath had met and then sighed,

"Very well, but next time obey the rules!"

"Of course. I promise you that I shall." Satisfied Madame Pince walked away and sat down at her desk. Cilath shook her head, her long hair swishing behind her. She frowned as some spilled over her shoulder and quickly pulled it back and gathered it up into a ponytail at the base of her neck and then she took from her wrist, a scrunchie. Her uncle had sent her some muggle accessories and this was one and she loved it. It was large enough to hold all her hair in a bun without any trouble, not an easy feat for a ribbon. She twisted her hair and then wrapped her hair around the base of her ponytail and then secured it with her scrunchie. That was much better. Her face now clear she walked over to Madame Pince and requested the books and her notes, which were sourly given. She thanked her politely and then walked away back to where she'd been before. She sat down and began to organise everything back to the way it was before.

"Excuse me? Cilath?" She looked up and smiled.

"Yes Hermione?"

"I, I was just wondering if I could sit here. There's no other spare seat." Cilath wasn't stupid, and she knew that there were free spaces; the library was massive, but she smiled and nodded, allowing Hermione to sit across from her. "Thanks. What are you doing?"

"I'm doing research into ancient myths. But I'm afraid I'm not finding much of what I want. There's nothing extra in the magical versions of legends, in fact some of the muggle ones seem to have even more details of them."

"Well, muggles could be making them up. Wizards know the limits and reaches of magic, and humans don't so… it follows that the legends wouldn't be as wild in the wizarding world."

"Well, that's a very strong contradiction Hermione. Everything about wizards is wild, and so few of them seem to have a grasp of logic." Hermione smiled and nodded, her eyes glazing over in memory. Cilath could guess what she was remembering. Ron had told her about the adventure to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone. "What are you doing?"

"I'm uh, doing research on the Goa'uld." she blushed faintly as she spoke, "But I'm not having much luck, I haven't found anything on them."

"The goa'uld have nothing to do with wizards, so it doesn't surprise me. They are more muggle based than wizard based."

"But for there to be nothing of them."

"There's plenty on them, you just need to know where to look." Cilath gestured to the books on the table. "These books tell you enough about them. Not their natural physiology, but their behaviour, and personalities of their lords which is crucial for battle." Hermione frowned deeply at this word. Cilath raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't approve of battle."

"I can't approve of the suffering brought on by swords and arrows."

"But what about magical battles, they can be so much worse, can they not? The disfigurements and the damage that can be sustained from the spells."

"Well I suppose but I believe no battle is a good battle."

"Maybe not, but sometimes it is the only option." Cilath pointed it out without missing a beat, hearing the unsaid words that were going through the girl's mind. "You worry about Ron don't you?"

"Of course. He's going to get himself killed!"

"Maybe, maybe not. That's up to him."

"Was he even given a choice of whether or not he wanted to do this?"

"There is always a choice. However, sometimes people don't see that I suppose." Cilath then bent over the book, indicating that she was done talking. Hermione stared at her for several minutes and then Cilath heard her leave. She watched her go and then returned to her work.

* * *

Ok, I got no reviews for the last chapter so am feeling even less inclined to update, but since I refuse to be a fanfic writer that doesn't finish what she started I will keep going. If you want me to do something with the fic, If you want me to write something for one of the characters then tell me. I want constructive criticism.

Night's Darkness


	10. Chapter 10

A small and kind of pointless update, but I wanted to get this out of the way. Hopefully the next chapter will be better.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE FIRST EVER HUMAN V. ELF QUIDDITCH GAME!" Ron sighed and rested his chin in his hand. He didn't give them a prayer. Lee Jordan was as enthusiastic as ever with his commentary, and Harry's team had been practising every night since they agreed to the match. The elves had also practised and Ron knew that had been mostly posturing. The elves' team consisted of, Elladan and Elrohir (beaters), Cilath (why he did not know), Vanlanthiriel, Alya (Chasers), Earithramir (Keeper) and Lomli (Seeker). The Gryffindor team was Harry, Fred, George, Ginny, Katie Bell, Dean Thomas and Cormac Mc Laggen. It was strange to be back in the stands, especially in the Teachers box, which had a brilliant view. His seat however put him next to Snape, who he was desperately trying to ignore.

"I wouldn't give your precious Gryffindors a hope in the world." the greasy man said in an oily voice.

"Well maybe they'll surprise you Snape. That Cup hasn't been in Mc Gonagall's office these past few years for nothing." Snape narrowed his eyes at him and he returned it levelly. He didn't like or trust Snape any more than he had in his first year, even after spending two months working one on one with him. He looked up just as the whistle blew. The elves shot up into the air, mere blurs, and Ron could just make out Harry right behind them.

"AND THEY'RE OFF!" The elves were all dressed in white, a colour that represented the united forces of the three most powerful realms that once existed. Mirkwood, Lorien, and Rivendell. "AND CILATH TAKES THE QUAFFLE. PASSES TO ALYA, WHO PASSES IT BACK." Cilath caught the Quaffle and went shooting across the pitch. Dodging around the twins she headed straight for the goal posts. Ron could hear a swell of cheering. The Slytherins were on the elves side for this. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were divided. Ron knew how they felt. He really couldn't decide who he wanted to win. Cilath suddenly froze and seemed to be very confused for a second. She was right in front of the goal posts but she looked around as if dazed. Ron stood up in concern. Cilath suddenly tossed the Quaffle up into the air and as it came back down she flipped her broom over and the tail whacked the Quaffle, sending it straight into the hoop. Mc Laggen swore, he'd been unsure what to do when Cilath had stopped. Cilath flew off and rejoined Alya.

"10 POINTS TO THE ELVES!" Lee said then he moved the mic away from his mouth. "Ron!" he hissed. Ron looked at him. "How the hell do you pronounce that other chasers name? Val…"

"Vahn-lahn-theer-ee-ell." Ron spelled out. Lee looked at him in frustration, "Just call her Van, that's what I call her."

"Thanks." Lee returned to the mic, "AND GINNY WEASLEY HAS THE QUAFFLE! PASSES TO DEAN THOMAS WHO PASSES IT TO KATIE BELL- THE PASS IS INTERCEPTED BY VAN ON THE ELVES TEAM. SHE'S HEADING STRAIGHT FOR THE GOAL POSTS, COME ON MC LAGGEN!" Mc Laggen missed again and even from Ron's seat he could see his face colouring. Harry was hovering above, watching them all carefully. Suddenly Fred belted a Bludger at Elladan who whacked it away smartly and nearly unseated Katie. Ron tuned out Lee's commentary and watched as Ginny grabbed the Quaffle. She dodged around Cilath and Earithramir and headed straight for the goalposts. She shot- "SHE SCORES! 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" Lee screamed and a great roar came up from the crowd. There was a lion's roar mixed in there as well. Luna Lovegood's hat! Ron laughed. The match continued and Gryffindor scored another 30 points. Ron knew better than to think the elves were actually loosing. He knew that the Gryffindors were good but the elves were just that bit better, and he knew that they were holding back. Why he did not know but he knew they were. He hadn't played with them over the summer (when time allowed) not to know their skill. The elves scored another 20 points and they were now just 10 points behind. The game continued. Fred and George were battling with Elladan and Elrohir. Twins against twins. Ron winced as Elladan sent a bludger hurtling into Ginny. Thankfully it was her side and not her face. She kept playing. Fred sent one back and hit Alya but she too refused to stop, even though it had caught her in the face.

Ten minutes later the score was:

Gryffindor: 80

Elves: 60

The air seemed to change. The elves suddenly upped their game. Cilath and Van and Alya performed complex and confusing chaser tactics and neither the Gryffindor Chasers nor Mc Laggen could keep up. Within five minutes the elves had scored three times and were now 10 points ahead. They scored twice more before Gryffindor even got the ball again, but Earithramir stopped their attempts to score with seemingly little effort.

Ten more minutes and the score was

Gryffindor: 80

Elves: 220

Ron suddenly realised what they were doing and he couldn't believe it. He stop up and whistled. But it wasn't just any whistle, it was a summoning whistle. Cilath flew over, while Van guarded the ball. Madam Hooch came hurtling over right behind her.

"What Ron? Was it another-"

"No! What are you doing!"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? You're trying to draw the score. You're trying to set it that if Harry gets the snitch, you'll have enough points that you'll draw."

"So what if we are?"

"You can't do that Cilath! This is like any battle. You don't draw!"

"Sometimes you do. And besides this way everybody saves face."

"No they won't! The students want a winner even if it isn't the one they wanted. For goodness sake! Don't you know anything about humans?" Cilath's face seemed to tighten. Ron knew he'd been too harsh.

"Apparently not." she said stiffly and then zoomed away. She called for the Quaffle and then once she had it she flew off. Within a minute she scored again. 230 to the elves. She tossed the Quaffle to Van and said something in elvish as loud as she could. Ron tried, but he just couldn't make out the words. _'Uh oh.'_ he thought to himself nervously. The elves called a time out and huddled together. Ron swallowed and then shrugged _'The damage is done, may as well keep going with my gut.'_ He waved and got Harry's attention and beckoned him over. Harry flew down.

"What's going on Ron?"

"Look Harry the elves might kill me for this but I don't care. They were trying to draw the score, they were going to let you catch the snitch but have enough points so that you'd draw."

"Why would they do that?"

"I think it's because they're afraid of the students becoming even more unfriendly to them than they have been if they win. But they don't want to loose either, elves are very competitive. Look Harry I said something and royally pissed Cilath off. I think they're gonna play fully now. You have to get the snitch if you want to save face. Get Ginny to score a goal and get the snitch! Other wise Lomli'll get it and you loose by three hundred points!" Harry paled slightly and then nodded. Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Harry flew off. Ron prayed for his life. _'When I said this would end in bruises I didn't think they'd be on me.'_

The game resumed and the elves played ferociously. Ron covered his eyes and watched between his fingers as they shot through the air like arrows, the Quaffle zipping between them. Ginny managed to get her hands on the Quaffle and scored a goal, but only just barely. Ron dug his nails into his skin as suddenly Harry and Lomli both dived. They were neck and neck, seeker against seeker, firebolt against firebolt. Ron groaned. Suddenly Harry's hand shot out and he suddenly stopped in his dive and held his fist in the air with delight. Ron nearly fainted. Harry had got the snitch. It was a draw. He watched as the elves flew down to the ground and groaned again. He may as well go now and face the music. He made his way down and walked over to the elves who were talking amongst themselves while the students talked furiously and cheered as well. Ron hoped that the draw would go down well with them otherwise there might be trouble. Lomli spotted him first and as one the elves fell slightly. They all looked at him and he looked from one to the other, finally staring at Cilath. "Ok, look I'm sorry I interfered but I didn't think it was right. I had to help Harry, I had to tell him. I just… I thought he needed to know to give him a good boost of encouragement to catch the snitch. I care about them too, I-"

"Ron. You're babbling." Earithramir grinned, Ron blushed and looked at the elves. Cilath passed her broom to Lomli and then walked forwards, until she was right in front of him, her face unreadable. He looked at the ground. She took his face in her hands and kissed him powerfully on the lips. His eyebrows shot up but he kissed her back anyway. She pulled away but still held his face in her hands.

"I'm proud of you." she told him, before letting him go.

"Huh?" Ron looked at her in utter bewilderment.

"The Gryffindors needed you and you came through for them. I'm proud of you." Ron blinked in confusion and then understood.

"This whole thing was a setup."

"Yes."

"You wanted me to… to prove to Harry and the others that I was still loyal to them. Since Quidditch is so important to them and me… clever little elf." he whispered finally. Little was not an appropriate word for Cilath who was just a little taller than him. He smiled and kissed her, lightly sucking on her lower lip before pulling away, feeling eyes staring at him hard. He looked to the side to see the whole Gryffindor team gaping at him, as well as a lot of other people. "What?" he asked Harry who was closest to him.

"You and Cilath are…?" Harry said slowly as if his mind was going too fast for his mouth.

"Yes." Ron put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He rested his forehead against hers, giving her a tender look before looking back at his old friend. "What of it?"

"I thought you were gay!" Harry blurted, and then slapped a hand over his mouth in shock. Ron stared at him in equal shock.

"What?"

"I, we…" Harry stammered and then fell silent, his cheeks going pink.

"We thought you and Lomli were together." Hermione said, frowning slightly.

"Me and… Lomli?" Ron stared at them a moment longer before he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that Cilath had to support him. "You thought… me and… oh that's good! Really good!" Ron kept laughing as he turned to Earithramir and Lomli who, it turned out were kissing each other in victory. "Where'd you get that idea anyway?"

"Malfoy said you were and we saw you and Lomli wrestling and we…" Harry shrugged, smiling as he realised how stupid it had been of them to believe anything Malfoy said.

"Actually, Malfoy never said you were gay. He said Lomli was. We saw you two wrestling and just assumed." Hermione said slowly, a faint pink in her cheeks.

"Well you know what they say about assuming, don't you." Ron chuckled, "And Lomli isn't gay."

"He sure seems to be judging by the way he's glued to Earithramir." Fred said matter of factly.

"Elves don't have a sexual orientation like humans do." Cilath said, still cuddled up to Ron. "I suppose the closest expression you have for us is bisexual, but even that doesn't really qualify what we are. Bisexuality can suggest that we limit ourselves to one partner at a time. We're not like that. We can have several lovers at once."

"You mean like a threesome?" Ron asked, paying full attention to her now.

"Or more."

"Why am I only learning this now?"

"Well I thought I should take it slow with you. Our intimate moments are not exactly… what word do you use? Kinky?" Ron went crimson as Fred and George fell to the ground with howls of laughter.

"You elves are full of surprises aren't you?" he muttered in her ear, before throwing caution to the wind and licking along it. She shivered and smiled at him.

"We try." she purred, pulling him into a possessive kiss. It felt good to kiss his princess in the open like this. It told the whole school she was his and would hopefully stop a good half of the population to stop ogling her. They finally pulled apart and Ron slid his arm down lower so his hand rested on her hip.

"So…" he turned back to his old friends, "Are you going to have a party? Steal some sweets from Honeyduke's?"

"You, uh, won't tell the teachers about that one will you?" Harry asked urgently.

"And loose my own chance to sneak free sweets? Fat chance. I still have to introduce Cilath to the place."

"We could go next weekend, the mid term's coming up." Cilath offered. "I'm curious about these every flavoured beans you told me about."

"Cilath, you are not going to find one that tastes like Spiced Wine."

"Oh well, maybe there'll be one that tastes like boiled ham. That's something I've become extremely fond of."

"Just go down to the kitchens!"

"But I want to taste it in a sweet. That's something I've never done Ron."

"You want to experience the weirdest things my love." Ron chuckled.

"Which explains what you're doing with Ron." George stated.

"Well he has his charming qualities." Cilath purred, linking her fingers through his at her hip. "One of which is his wonderful accepting quality. He just embraces new cultures and new experiences with such a relaxed eagerness." Her radiant smile shone out as she spoke. "Among other… impressive qualities." Ron grinned stupidly as she started making him walk back to the school. He could feel Harry and his brother's stupefied gazes on his back and he grinned to himself. He couldn't deny it was certainly nice to come out on top.

* * *

Ok, hopefully some proper action next chapter, review and let me know what you think. Also I'm considering rewritting A warrior's Life. I think if I explain and set up more in that, then this will work out better. Keep an eye on it to see what happens. 

Night's Darkness


	11. Chapter 11

OMG! I'm sorry about the lack of updates, and lack of quality… but ugh! This story is stuck in a very deep and slimy rut which it refuses to come out of.

* * *

**Chapter 11 **

"5, 7, 9, 2! Pick up the pace people! You're moving like trolls!" Ron clapped his hands as he spoke, encouraging his sixth years to move. They were sweaty and they were tired, but at least they weren't feeling the cold. Mid-November, with the promise of snow during the night, was a nasty time to have to be outside. Lomli of course wasn't overly bothered by it being an elf but he was working just as hard as Ron to keep the students going. "Come on! Do you think that will block an Orc? MOVE!"

"You are quite the slave driver mellon nin." Lomli muttered in his ear as he passed him.

"If it keeps them alive then so be it." Ron responded seriously, his eyes focused on the students and not even bothering to glance at Lomli. Lomli nodded to himself as he walked around the group, checking on those at the back. "6, 9, 4, 1! Faster!" He scanned the group carefully, "Malfoy you'll find yourself losing that arm if you move it like that. Neville put more strength into the slash, come on Parvati, you too Parkinson, don't slow down, this is no time for a nap!" Ron suddenly winced and touched his forehead, feeling a headache coming on swiftly. It was the only warning he got. He screamed in pain and clutched his head as the vision hit him.

* * *

_Orcs and Jaffa swarmed into the grounds, attacking the elves who stood guard in the forest as they shot at them from their horses as they retreated back to the castle. He saw himself standing ready with the elves to defend the castle and saw the two sides collide in a furious battle, and as it all went black all he could hear was a scream that echoed in his ears.

* * *

_

"Ron!" Lomli shouted as the man fell down, writhing in agony as a vision hit him. He ran to his side and held his shoulders down as he bucked and thrash. "HAGRID!" he shouted, seeing the half-giant racing over as fast as he could.

"What's the matt'r with him?" he exclaimed, kneeling down and holding Ron down easily.

"Just hold him down until it passes." Lomli said sharply, holding Ron's head to stop him from hurting it. Finally Ron went limp and he lay still for a moment before his eyes snapped open and he sat up sharply.

"Orcs! Jaffa! Heading this way."

"Are you sure?" Lomli asked. Ron narrowed his eyes at him,

"Yes Lomli! I'm very sure. Help me up." Hagrid set Ron on his feet and the red head whipped out his wand and with a quick motion set off the alarm that they'd heard on the first night back. "What are you all standing around for? MOVE!" Ron shouted at the sixth years who jumped and then bolted away. "Lomli, get the warriors out here! Hagrid keep the teachers in the Great Foyer, don't let them outside, and have Madam Pomfrey ready for injured." Hagrid and Lomli both obeyed him and hurried into the castle. Ron put his fingers into his mouth and whistled shrilly, calling for all the elves to gather. The alarm was only for the students and teachers, not the elves. Ron gave them commands through specific whistles. Just as the last one died away a horn blared, sounding more like a chorus of people singing. It was the elf horn, the attacking force was upon the outer guards. Ron resounded his summons. It would take some time for either elf, orc or Jaffa to arrive from the edge of the forest, but that just meant they had enough time to prepare.

He turned and ran into the Great Foyer and met the staff, who were gathering, all ready to do battle.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ron demanded, "Get back to the students. Your magic is no good here."

"We can try to shield the castle." Dumbledore said, sounding calm, but his eyes were blazing.

"It won't work, the orcs can batter it down. Now get yourselves up to the students to keep them from getting hurt. Keep the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws away from the windows, and make sure the Slytherins don't try to leave via the secret exit via the dungeons. And for goodness sake keep the Hufflepuffs quiet. If the orcs get in they'll be the closest targets. GO!" The adults (funny that he still thought of them as adults) hesitated but then obeyed him. "Professor Dumbledore! I need a word with you." Dumbledore turned and regarded him questioningly, "I want to know how you are coming along with that spell I asked you to create a good two months ago."

"Ah, the one for the elves."

"Yes."

"I'm afraid that it is taking me longer than I expected-"

"You don't have it?"

"I'm afraid not yet but I-" Ron cut him off with a swipe of his hand.

"Professor, I'm sorry but I will not accept any excuses. The elves have guarded your school vigilantly and all that I have asked for them in return is a way to protect them and you have not got it, after having two months. A man of your intellect should not be taking this long Dumbledore. I will say quite simply that I'm very disappointed. I truly expected far more from you." As he said this Ron wasn't just thinking of the spell, he was thinking of Harry and the Prophesy. Dumbledore knew about that for years, and had never bothered to tell Harry. That was enough for Ron to loose a great deal of respect for the man before him. Dumbledore looked uncomfortable and then he said,

"I'll have the spell ready for you by tomorrow."

"Well you'd better hope none of the Jaffa's prim'tah get into them today." Ron said furiously, spinning on his heels and walking out, back onto the grounds. The elves had all gathered, and Ron knew the remaining ones on the outpost were heading this way. He spied Lomli, Earithramir and Cilath all standing side by side, armed to the teeth and waiting for him. "Alright people! We've got a mass of Jaffa and orcs coming from the forest perimeter. The scouting teams are on their way back and they'll take down as many as they can but we have to be ready for anything. I want archers at the ready, and then when their job is done, the swordsmen are to move forward so the archers can exchange their weapons. You know what to do."

"YES SIR!"

"Alright, stand at the ready!" The archers moved forward and each pulled out an arrow and knocked it into the bow. They held it loosely, saving their strength, but were ready to fire at the slightest warning. The swordsmen mounted the horses and Ron swung up on Urúvion, reining the horse around so he could survey the lake. So far there was no sign, but he didn't trust Goa'uld, Orc or Voldemort. No chances taken.

It was a painstaking wait for the army to arrive, the tense calm before a brutal storm. Unfortunately, when they did arrive it was like the whole land was enveloped in a bubble that fast forwarded time. Ron fought hard, slashing and cutting down Jaffa and orcs, but a sudden attack by a warg knocked him and Urúvion over and he was very lucky the horse didn't crush him. He was unable to be thankful because he was being crushed by a warg. A terrible smelling one at that. He drew his knees to his chest and kicked the heavy animal in the chest, pushing it away more than knocking it as he'd wanted. He rolled onto his side and got to his feet. Grabbing the throwing of Gimli he thrust it into the warg's neck and killed it. Then he ran an orc through. Soon the attacking force thinned and were just pickings, of no real threat. Ron grinned and wiped some black blood off his face with his sleeve and unrealising, he smeared even more on his cheek. That smile fell when he saw that ten of his soldiers were badly injured. He opened his mouth to order a clear up when he was hit by some sort of energy wave and sent flying over the orc bodies and onto clear grass.

"Ow." He groaned and sat up. His face went from pained to horrified as he saw who was standing before him. Sky blue eyes were darkened with cruelty, white-blond hair was cut to chin length, and the willowy body was dressed in golden materials. A hand device powered down on his right arm. The lips twisted into dark glee.

"**Le suilon mellon nin."** _(I greet thou my friend)_ he said softly, the voice a flanged, cruel sound. Ron swallowed.

It was Cer.

* * *

Review please. I'll try and get some more up soon.

Night's Darkness


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the delay folks, but I've been unbelievably busy. Hope you enjoy this chappie!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_Ron was getting tired, his muscles were screaming at him but if he stopped now he was dead, literally. He cut down orc and Jaffa as fast as he could, constantly on the look out for anyone who was in trouble. One elf he didn't recognize was about to be cut down by an orc coming at him from behind. Moving quickly, Ron pulled out his bow and an arrow and shot it straight through the orcs head. It fell down dead and the elf was safe, or as safe as he could be at the moment. Suddenly there was a cry from the left of him. Looking he saw a man, in gold silk clothing that simmered when he moved, his hair done up in a elaborate design. On his right arm was a gold bracelet that wrapped around his whole forearm. He was standing on a kind of platform that was floating above their heads, three Jaffa standing around him shooting down at them. He was a Goa'uld! But that wasn't the worst of it, no the worst was that he was holding a struggling Cer by the throat. The Goa'uld sneered, his fair face twisting horribly to do so. He tore his cruel green eyes away from the elf he held and brought them down to meet Ron's horrified blue ones. He smirked at him then raised his other hand. In it, squeaking and squirming, was a disgusting snake-like creature, as black as obsidian. It was a symbiote, and it was about to take possession of Cer. Cer was screaming and struggling, not caring what he had to do to get away, so desperate was he to get away from the monsters. But when someone is implanted, their body strength is increased, so elf though he was he couldn't pull away from the Goa'uld. Ron pulled out another arrow, he aimed…_

**BANG! **

_Ron was thrown back as the energy discharge from a staff weapon hit the ground. His bow flew from his hands. He struggled to his knees, looking up just in time to see the symbiote forcing it's way into the back of the neck of Cer, who screamed in agony. There was a nasty sound of cracking bones as the symbiote attached itself to his spine, taking control. _

_For Ron it was like someone had cast a silencing charm over everything, he couldn't hear a thing and the only thing he could see was Cer as his face scrunched up in agony, as he went ridged, then completely limp. After a moment he straightened up and his eyes flashed a golden glow, the sign of a successful possession. The Goa'uld drew in a deep breath, and examined his new body with sick pleasure. His eyes locked on Ron's and he sneered and took the weapon offered by the other Goa'uld, black shaped like a snake, hand held, called a Zat'nikatel, a less destructive, smaller version of the staff weapon. One shot stunned, two shots killed and the third vaporised the body. There was a flash of blue light, waves of pain, then total darkness.

* * *

_

Ron stared in horror at the elf before him. Cer's eyes were cold as ice and the stars were gone from them. His hair, which had been past his shoulders was now cut to chin length and was harder around his face. The clothes were gold and bronze in colour. He was barely recognisable. Which, Ron supposed, was appropriate considering that he was not the person who belonged to that face.

"**No smiles Ron?"** he sneered, lowering his arm. Ron's gaze was stony as he stood up. Briefly he glanced around for Maedd and when he saw him he felt sad. Maedd's face was a torrent of pained grief. **"Ah, muindor nin."** The Goa'uld smiled falsely. **"Have you no words for me?"**

"Leave him alone." Ron snarled protectively. He wouldn't stand for anyone picking on any elf, no matter how bad the elf had behaved to him. "You came to deal with me."

"**Such arrogance. The plague of Man."**

"And of snake-heads." Ron said, his own name for the goa'uld slipping off his tongue. "Pot calling kettle black." He drew his sword sharply. "You came here to face my army and since yours is gone now would be a good time to surrender."

"**Hmm… no."** Ron smirked, matching the Goa'uld's.

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked.

"**I don't really know."** The Goa'uld drew a sword and held it aloft. **"Now, how about we deal with this as in old times past? One on one dual."**

"You're kidding?" Ron drew himself up, surprised.

"**Of course not." **

"You'll cheat."

"**I will not." **

"Forgive me if I refuse to believe that." The goa'uld smiled cruelly and spread his hands out, the sword hanging deceptively lazy from one. Several elves moved to attack, but Ron waved them away. He wanted them to stay out of this.

"**Of course. I am nothing if not forgiving."** Ron narrowed his eyes, hating the creature before him for taking someone so kind and raping the body to their own purposes. **"Come, will you fight or will you surrender."**

"Why would I need to surrender? You're outnumbered."

"**Perhaps, but will you kill the host?"** Ron froze and the goa'uld's smirk grew. **"I didn't think so."** Ron squared his jaw and said as he stepped forward and they began to circle each other,

"When Cer was taken from Rivendell I made a promise to myself. That I'd kill him if it meant stopping you." Maedd let out a strangled cry. "As I've heard it. Nothing of the host survives the implantation."

"**That is the case with most hosts, however-"** the goa'uld lunged and Ron blocked, their swords crashing against each other, **"-there are a few who manage to survive within the body. Better to die I'd say. No pain when you're dead."** They swiped and clashed, ducked and blocked.

"There's pain in hell, and I'm gonna send you there!" Ron snarled, ducking under a wide swipe and swinging his own sword. He caught the arm and a deep cut was made in the alabaster skin. The goa'uld growled and suddenly upped his skill. He'd been toying with Ron up until then. Now he managed to used the skills of Cer to pull the sword from Ron's grip. Ron watched as Andúril flew away from him and then he was on the ground, the tip of a sword was pressing against his throat. He went ridged. The goa'uld leered at him and used the sword to tilt his chin up, exposing his throat and his scar.

"**Hmm, it would appear I shall be adding to your collection of scars, although this one will never heal."** Ron swallowed and the tip pricked his skin. **"Pity. I had hoped for more of a challenge than this."** Ron stared up at him, silent. The goa'uld raised the sword up to pierce his throat. Then he screamed in pain.

An arrow stuck out of his arm. With a snarl he wrenched it out and glared at the elf who'd fired at him. Maedd glared back, his bow still raised. Ron leapt to his feet, pulled out his dagger and thrust it through the long, pale neck of Cer. Cer's blood flowed over his hands as the body collapsed, Ron scrambling to catch it. There was black among the silver-red blood. The symbiote's blood was pouring from the dead creature within Cer's body. His face was a shocked glare, staring at nothing now.

Maedd screamed in agony and flew over to them, grabbing his brother and holding him close.

"Muindor nin! Muinder! Saes, muinder. Lau!" He grasped at the neck wound, trying to stop the blood. The black blood stained his skin and he recoiled, wailing pitifully, desperately. Ron stared at him, amazed at the primitive, heartbreaking beauty the elf was displaying. The redhead's hands were resting in his lap, Sting resting in his hands. As Maedd's wails quieted to sobs, muffled as he buried his face in Cer's chest, Ron stood up. He looked around the grounds, taking in the orc bodies that covered the ground, Jaffa beside them. He closed his eyes and in his mind he saw it as it had been last year, in the summer. Alive and beautiful. Now it was covered with death. He swallowed, fighting tears and fury. He drew in a deep breath and looked at the elves, some of whom were crying. Cilath was being supported by Lomli, she seemed to have fallen into a daze. He drew in a deep breath and said,

"Alright! I want everyone to pile the bodies up. We'll burn them. And then we'll have a ceremony for… our loss. Get to it!" The elves obeyed and Ron retrieved Andúril. Then he walked over to Cilath, resting his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he stroked her face before he could stop himself. Her cheek was smudged with blood and she didn't notice. Ron looked at Lomli who nodded in understanding and put his arms around her and guided her towards the castle.

"I'll keep an eye on Maedd too." the blonde promised softly as he passed him. Ron simply nodded. He was fairly sure that if he opened his mouth he'd start screaming and wouldn't be able to stop. He walked slowly over to the lake and washed his hands in it, then he wiped away all the blood on his weapons. Then he took a deep breath and stuck his face in the water. Secure under the surface he did scream, as loud as he could. Only when he needed air did he snap his head back up. He gasped and rubbed his face, wiping away the water. Then he cleared up his blades and walked back over to the elves, ready to help.

* * *

The orcs and Jaffa were burning, sending a terrible smell into the air. But no one in the Gryffindor Tower cared as they sat quietly, reflecting on the carnage they'd just witnessed.

Hermione was shaking and Harry had his arm around her shoulders, trying to calm her. Harry himself was grey. Ginny sat between her brothers, looking green. The twins were unreadable. Professor Mc Gonagall came in.

"Now. There is to be a funeral for Lord Cer. All will attend to show respect so get changed into your best school robes. The funeral is in an hour."

"Who's Lord Cer?" asked Seamus.

"The elf that was killed by Captain Weasley. We're having a funeral for him before the elves bring him back to Rivendell."

"Why are we having a funeral for the enemy?"

"Lord Cer was not an enemy. The goa'uld that possessed him was. You shall show proper respect!" Mc Gonagall walked out at that. Slowly the Gryffindors began to move around. Yet they didn't speak. Harry robotically pulled on his robes and grabbed his cloak. Once he was dressed he made his way back to the common room. Mc Gonagall returned for them 45 minutes after she'd left, now dressed in black robes. They were led out to the grounds. Spells had been cast to clear the air of the smell of the burnt carcasses. Ron stood near them, staring at them pensively. As they were shown to their places Harry watched as Lomli walked over to Ron and spoke softly in his ear. Ron nodded, and then said something back. He then turned away and walked towards the castle, his pace hurried. Lomli watched him go and then returned to Cilath and Earithramir. Cilath's eyes were glazed, as if she wasn't quite with her friends. Earithramir was looking sad and weighed down. His expression was reflected in the faces of many of the other elves. The funeral was begun and yet… Harry realised Ron wasn't back.

* * *

Ron stared at the carcasses, his eyes making patterns out of the various shapes, but he wasn't really seeing anything. Lomli came up to him and he said softly,

"You did what had to be done mellon nin. You killed a goa'uld and spared Cer of any more pain. No one could ask more than that." Ron tilted his head to the side slightly. "Maedd's vanished. We can't find him and Earithramir's voiced his concern about what he might… do. If he misses his twin's funeral, he'll never be able to let him go." Ron sighed, and his fingers brushed Sting's hilt as he thought for a few moments. "It'll be dark soon." Ron turned his head to the side, meeting the blond elf's green eyes that were full of sadness for the pain of the world, pain that others caused. Ron nodded slowly and they walked to the large group of elves and humans. All were in black, although for the students that was nothing new. Most of them were pale from what they had seen and a few were green.

Ron glanced at the marble pedestal where Cer lay, surrounded by golden and red leaves. Then the young captain cast his eyes about the group. Lomli was right. Maedd wasn't there. Ron's eyes fell on Cilath who was being held by Earithramir. She hadn't said anything to anyone yet.

"Start the funeral." Ron said quietly, "I'll find Maedd and bring him here. You just go through the procession." Lomli nodded and Ron turned away, hurrying into the castle. He broke into a run as he checked places he thought the grieved elf might be hiding. He skidded to a halt suddenly and looked at a portrait of a pretty young woman. "Excuse me ma'am. Have you seen an elf go by here? He's got white blond hair and sky blue eyes."

"Hmm…" giggled the woman, "I think he passed here a little while ago."

"Did you see where he was going?"

"He was heading that way." She pointed towards the stairs that lead to the Astronomy tower. "I don't know if he's gone to the top of the tower, but he didn't seem to know either, he had a very odd look in his eyes."

"Right, thanks." Ron began to walk away.

"Oh! And a dagger." she called after him. Ron froze. "He was carrying a dagger." Ron didn't even bother to say thank you again. He just ran up the stairs as fast as he could. Reaching a shut door he gave it an almighty shove. The wooden door flew opened and Ron stopped short at what he saw.

Maedd was kneeling on the ground, lifting the dagger to his neck, but he paused as the door opened. Their eyes met and Ron relaxed slightly.

"Now there's a bright idea!" he mocked, "You wouldn't want to do the wrists. It would take too long. And the stomach would hurt like a bitch. No, go for the neck, but be careful. You could easily not cut deep enough and just bleed slowly, until someone comes along. Like me."

"What are you doing here?" Maedd hissed, standing up.

"Didn't I just say? I'm here to stop you from doing something stupid!"

"Get out you scum!"

"Uh, how about no. Look at yourself Maedd! You're a mess. You're also doing the one thing neither Kinthia nor Cer would have wanted you to do." Maedd snarled like an animal and lunged at Ron. Ron quickly sidestepped and struck Maedd between the shoulders, winding the elf. Maedd fell to the ground and Ron quickly pressed his knee into his spine, pulling his arms behind him.

"Get off me!" The elf thrashed violently, growling and hissing.

"Not until you give me your word as an honourable warrior that you won't try to harm yourself or me." Maedd snarled again and struggled, but Ron just managed to hold him down. "Do I have your word?" Maedd struggled a little more then stilled and growled,

"Yes." Ron let him go and straightened up. He held his hand out and Maedd took it after a hesitation. "Why are you here? Time and again I have behaved dishonourable towards you and only once have you lost your temper with me. Why do you keep trying to earn my friendship?" Ron met the sky blue eyes with his deep water blue ones and said,

"I don't want it if you don't wish to give it. I simply wish to care for you and all the other elves. It awes me to think that even though you need not have suffered in this war, you do to protect us, though we have long forgotten your power and majesty. We have given your name to a pathetic creature that does not deserve to carry such a name. Our own arrogance is destroying us, yet you try to spare us by sacrificing yourselves." Maedd stared at him, his face unreadable, then he spoke, his voice soft and weary,

"It is so hard. I know we fight for the right reasons, but it's so hard." He looked away as if ashamed, "I… I find it hard to make friends, to open up to people. Kinthia and Cer were the only ones I ever fully… and now they are gone and I am alone. No one cares about me."

"Yes they do! They care greatly for you." Ron protested, shocked that Maedd felt this way.

"Nay. They sided with you, rather than me when my muinder and my mela were lost to me." Maedd's lower lip trembled slightly. Ron sighed and rested his hands on his hips,

"I know what that's like mate." he said, "To feel betrayed, because of, what you see as an attention seeker." His mind took him back to his fourth year. How Hermione sided with Harry without a care for him. Ron knew he'd been wrong to be jealous, but the principal was sound and no one had cared. Thinking about that, he could understand Maedd's point of view.

"You cannot know what it's like to have the only two people in your life, who meant everything to you, gone! There's nothing left for me. Nothing." Maedd's legs gave away and Ron caught him in his arms. The blonde's shoulders shook as he sobbed onto Ron's shoulder. Ron held him tightly and rocked him like a child.

"Maedd, mellon nin, they wouldn't want this for you. You should live for them, in honour of them. Come with me. Come to say goodbye. Saes Maedd." Maedd pulled away and after a moment he nodded, still tearful. Ron squeezed his shoulder comfortingly and they ran as fast as they could down to the grounds.

Out of breath, they arrived, just as the last elf had finished laying a leaf on Cer's body. Everyone looked at them, some of the students with interest, some with annoyance as they shattered the serene, if grieved atmosphere. Maedd looked, transfixed, at the motionless form on the pedestal. Ron gripped his elbow in case he faltered and together they walked to the pedestal.

Maedd took one look at his brother's face, which had been rearranged into a serene and peaceful expression, and let out a howl of agony. The elves joined him in the cry, mourning the loss of something that should never have been lost. Ron threw his head back and howled with them. As the cry died down they began to sing

_Dannen le  
A ú-erin le regi  
Rang ail le iestannen  
Lû ail le tegin na hen.  
Gwannach o innen ului  
Ú lû erui, ului. _

Ron swallowed hard and then sang the song in English, letting his surprisingly skilled voice be carried over the crowd.

_You have fallen.  
And I cannot reach you.  
Every step I willed you on,  
Every moment I lead you to this.  
You never left my mind,  
Not once, not ever._

Several of the girls were crying, Cilath was weeping, clinging onto Earithramir and Lomli who held her. Ron held Maedd up as the elf tried to control himself and he whispered to the fallen elf whose soul had fled to the Halls on Mandos,

"Noro go hûl, bado go Eru mellon nin Cer." And Ron wept, silent and hidden in the white blond hair of Maedd. He wept for Cer, he wept for Maedd, he wept for Cilath. He wept for all the elves, and he wept for the suffering this war had caused and would continue to cause. Finally, he wept for himself and how painful his destiny seemed to be. He mourned for the child he used to be and he grieved for the man he was becoming, had become. Ron Weasley wept for Captain Balanidhren.

* * *

Reviews are very encouraging! The more the better!

Night's Darkness


	13. Chapter 13

Late as usual. Many apologies. 

Enjoy!

Chapter 13 

Snow gently tumbled down from the thick clouds, resting on bare branches and bare skin. Ron sat in the cold, his cloak wrapped around him as he stared out at the grounds that were becoming whiter by the moment. His thoughts travelled around his head while his body shivered with the cold. A warm hand on his shoulder made him blink and look up sharply. Sky blue eyes stared down at him.

"You should go inside and get warm Ron. You don't wish to get ill." Ron inclined his head slightly to the side, a small smile on his face.

"No, that is true Maedd. But if I do I can just take a Pepper Up potion." Maedd grimaced,

"I'd rather take the cold and spare myself the embarrassment of having steam coming out my ears." Ron chuckled as he stood up. His legs protested against the movement. When had his legs gotten so cold?

"No one would look at me twice if they saw me like that." Maedd sighed and shook his head.

"Your people are so used to the abnormal and illogical that I'm worried you won't be able to recognise a threat for the true gravity it holds." Ron nodded, flicking hair out of his eyes.

"I know what you mean. We wizards lack a good amount of logic." Maedd rolled his eyes,

"You have some, but Dumbledore on the other hand…" The white-blond shook his head. Ron laughed, "Now come in before you loose your limbs to the cold."

"Yes mother. I'm coming." Ron teased, hurrying in before Maedd could whack him.

It was strange to think of how changed the relationship between the two was. Before they couldn't stand each other. Now they had reached a peaceful truce of sorts. Ron made sure Maedd wasn't left out of the elves activities and Maedd had become warmer to Ron. There was a frankness about their relationship. They didn't keep their opinions to themselves, they were upfront about what they thought. Ron enjoyed being so free with his words.

He kept an eye on Maedd, doing his best to keep the still grieved elf cheerful. He didn't want Maedd to fade away to nothing. There had been enough death in his life thus far.

As they made their way up the Main Stairs, Cilath was coming down them.

"Hello you two." she greeted, pausing to kiss Ron's lips. "Ron you are soaking and freezing." Her tone had changed to scolding. "What are you like?"

"I'm like me my love." Ron chuckled, pulling her to him to kiss her more fully. She grimaced and pulled away,

"You'll soak my dress! Get off." Ron laughed at her scolding tone.

"Oh my love how you wound me." He placed a hand over his heart, "That a little thing like water would repulse you from me so."

"When a simple spell with that wand of yours would dry you off, I think I'm allowed to be repulsed."

Ron gave a long-suffering sigh and drew his wand out from the sheath on his leg and dried himself with a quick spell. He ruffled his hair, which was getting far too long for him to know how to manage. He would have to ask Bill.

"Happy my love?"

"Much." Now she kissed him. Ron pulled her close and worked his fingers into her hair.

Maedd coughed when they didn't part after a few moments. Ron managed to kiss her lightly once more before Cilath pulled away.

"Sorry Maedd."

"It's fine." Maedd waved their apologies away. "I'm going to go see if there's anything to read in the library, so why don't you two go and have your… fun."

"Are you sure mellon nin?"

"Absolutely. Please get away from me, your sexual tension is getting on my nerves." Maedd smirked as Ron swept Cilath into his arms and carried her away with a cheeky grin.

Ron carried Cilath into an empty classroom and sat her down on the unused teacher's desk, catching her mouth in a hungry kiss, groaning when her fingers ran over the skin on his back under his shirt.

Pushing at her dress he pushed her down with his own weight onto her back. Cilath tugged at his hair and whimpered into his mouth.

"Mela." she whispered shakily, pulling at his clothes, "I need you mela! Saes."

"Oh Valar." Ron groaned and he kissed her deeply.

"OH MY GOD!!" Ron was standing upright like a shot and Cilath was pulling at her dress as they stared in alarm at a positively horrified Fred and George. "We thought… but you… oh GOD!" Fred covered his eyes looking traumatised.

"My eyes are burning!" George screamed, rubbing at them frantically. Ron glared at his brothers, pulling at his trousers. Cilath was pulling her dress both down and up, covering a lot of her skin, much to Ron's ever increasing fury.

"What the hell are you two doing out of class?" he demanded. Now Fred and George froze in horror as the realised that they hadn't just walked in on their little brother having sex with his girlfriend, they'd also just walked in on two of their teachers having sex.

Without another word they both ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. "I'm taking five points off Gryffindor for the both of you!!" Ron roared after them.

An odd silence fell over the room once his voice had quieted. Cilath tugged the bodice of her dress up a little higher, and then she jumped to her feet, pulling her dress down.

"I think the mood's been killed." she said, giving him a regretful smile.

"Stupid Fred and George." Ron growled, sitting on one of the student desks. Cilath sighed and pulled at her hair. "You know… I've been thinking about a lot this last little while."

"Oh? You've been thinking?"

"I know, shocking, isn't it?" Ron rolled his eyes, "Anyway… I've thinking about this war, and the whole situation and I've also been thinking about us."

"You have? In what way?"

"Well… I've just been thinking about how we didn't really do any of the regular stuff before we first made love. You know, I didn't take you out on a date, or do anything romantic like that."

"And you wish you had?"

"Well… yes." Ron stood up and took her hands in his. "Look, what we have feels amazing, but I don't want to wake up one morning and find we spent so much energy on the physical side of our relationship, that we don't have any for the emotional side." His face was warming as he spoke, feeling foolish, "Hermione once told me I have the emotional range of a teaspoon, but she's wrong-"

"I know that more than anyone." Cilath told him firmly, gripping his hands tightly. Ron gave her a grateful look,

"I want to… I don't know, make sure we have something that goes beyond the physical. I mean before you, I'd only had a few crushes and none of them did to me what you do, but I want to prove to us, that what we have goes beyond the strong physical attraction."

"So… what do you want to do?"

"Well… I'd like to take you out on a date. Or as elves would probably say, I would like to court you."

Cilath giggled, Ron had put a strong emphasis on his English accent and that always made her smile.

"Well… I would like that. But if we're going to do this, lets do it right."

"How?"

"Well, if you're really courting me then we should not have a physical relationship. So… for the next little while, as long as this lasts, we shouldn't sleep together."

Ron's eyes widened in horror, he hadn't quite thought about that. Cilath's eyes became earnest,

"You said you wanted to do this right Ron. So doesn't that mean we don't have a physical relationship to make sure we have a strong emotional one?"

"I suppose that's a fair point. But we're living together…"

"Do you think we can control ourselves in bed, or should we stop living together for a while. I think you're right. We should try to do this properly."

"Well… I guess that's a fair point." Ron groaned, "I'm beginning to wish I hadn't said anything."

"Don't say that. We don't want this to end, so we should take the time now to ensure we have a strong foundation." Cilath pulled her hands free of his, "I'll have Earithramir and Lomli help me move to another room, who knows, maybe this will do us good. I've been feeling guilty because I feel like I'm not seeing my other friends anymore. It will be nice to spend more time with them."

"Yeah… I suppose that's true." Ron folded his arms tight across his chest, feeling uncomfortable.

"Ron, this doesn't change how I feel about you. We're just making sure of what we have between us." Cilath smiled at him and kissed his cheek, "So where do you want to take me on a date?"

"How about Madam Puddifoots? It's supposed to be a good place for people to go on dates."

"Sounds lovely, it means we'll finally get to go to Hogsmead."

"Yeah… ok." Ron smiled at her bashfully. "It'll be nice to slow things down I suppose."

"I'm glad you are mature enough to see that."

"Hey… I'm not sure if I was just insulted or not." Cilath rolled her eyes and waved her fingers near his face in a way that was clearly only done to torment him. Slowly, she turned away from him and sauntered away, her hips swaying slightly.

"You're not playing fair!" Ron moaned. Cilath's tinkling laughter was the only answer he got.

"Damn, damn, bugger, son of a bitch, fuck!!" Draco Malfoy raged as he strode through the Room of Requirement. The Vanishing Cabinet was beginning to drive him out of his mind. He'd been working on it at every possible chance since he'd gotten back to Hogwarts and the damn thing only seemed to get more broken.

Draco was beginning to really regret his bragging to his friends- no scratch that- his associates. Now it looked like he wouldn't be able to complete his task. What would he do when the Dark Lord found out? He'd be a dead man, that's what.

"If the Dark Lord himself couldn't achieve this, how the hell am I suppose to?" Draco asked aloud, rubbing his left arm as he did. His Dark Mark was still hurting like hell.

Grabbing a broken chair he righted it and sat on the cracked seat, massaging his temples. Granted, he knew he didn't have an option of failure, especially after his last blunder…

(Flashback)

Draco shifted where he stood waiting for Weasley to come along. The redhead was walking through the forest, oblivious to the danger he was in. After all, he'd only been in Rivendell about two weeks, so had yet to learn to be cautious wherever he went.

As Weasley stopped under a tree and leaned back against it, Draco moved. Reaching out with his invisible hands he pressed the dagger to Weasley's skin and drew the dagger across his throat.

Ron gasped and his hands went to his throat, trying vainly to stop the flow of blood. The redhead sank to his knees as he choked. Draco couldn't stay to watch and so he ran, fleeing like a coward.

(End Flashback)

Draco had been sure he'd done his duty and so had been most annoyed when he found out that Weasley had survived. He'd been even more annoyed to find out that he'd felt a semblance of relief. Purely for his own sake of course, he hadn't been ready for a man's blood on his hands. Now though…

Draco had to be honest with himself, loathed as he was to admit it. He was no more ready for it now than he had been before.

A stupid thought entered his brain right then. What if he went to Dumbledore and told him the truth. Told him what Voldemort had sent him to do. The Old Man would protect him, Draco was sure of it.

'_Listen to yourself you idiot! Stop moaning and get back to work.'_ ordered a sharp voice that sounded very much like his father's, _'Don't you even consider such a thing again. If the Dark Lord ever found out he'd waste no time in making an example of you.'_

With a heavy sigh Draco got to his feet, resuming his work.

But the idea that there might be a way out for him simmered in the back of his mind continuously like an itch he couldn't scratch, and he wasn't sure he wanted it gone.

Ron paced in the Foyer, waiting for Cilath to arrive so he could take her to Hogsmead. As he waited he watched the students filing out, while Filch was glaring at each of them in turn.

"Hey Ron. What are you doing?"

Ron turned to look at Ginny as she approached him, holding Dean Thomas' hand. Dean was blushing, but Ron said nothing.

"I'm waiting for Cilath."

"Oh." Ginny grinned, "Fred and George told us about walking in on you two. Is it true?"

"It is, and when I see them I am going to kill them." said Ron with false cheerfulness. He was still extremely pissed off at those two for that.

"They know, that's why they're avoiding you."

"Well they can't hide forever." Ron said, folding his arms.

"It was an accident. Still… at least they can't tease you now about not getting any."

'_Oh yes they can.'_ sighed Ron, as he said, "Aren't you two late for something?"

"Whatever Ron, see you later." Ginny dragged Dean away, her hand tightly wrapped around his. Ron watched them leave and then turned back towards the stairs. His jaw dropped.

Cilath smiled down at him as she descended the stairs. Instead of being dressed in one of her usual dresses, she was wearing leg-hugging jeans of faded blue denim, and a kimono shirt that was royal blue, with a plunging neckline. Her long hair was gathered on top of her head with small, but beautiful clips and her lips were sparkling with glitter. On her feet were white crochet pumps.

"Hello Ron." she said softly as she reached him.

"Wow." he said, unable to take his eyes off her.

"So you like it?"

"Completely!"

"Good. I remembered you said you wanted to see me wearing muggle clothing. Since this is a date… I figured I should make the effort."

"Wow." Ron was having trouble saying more than one word at a time.

"Is there any way of getting you speak more than one word?"

"Um… maybe."

"Good." Cilath linked her arm with Ron's and steered them both towards the Main doors. Filch glared at them as they passed and Cilath gave him a smile that caused the glare to melt into a dazed look. Ron knew how he felt.

Harry and Hermione strolled through Hogsmead, pockets weighed down with sweets from Honeydukes. Currently they were both enjoying something called Strawberry Sherbert Tickle-Popper. The sherbert fizzed, and then it popped on your tongue. Then, when you swallowed it, it began to tickle your stomach, making you feel all giggly and cheerful. According to Hermione this method was way better than a Cheering-charm or Cheering Potion because it was a natural releasing of endorphins rather than an artificial one. Harry had just let her natter on, having learnt how to tune out such things.

"Oh my goodness! Look." Hermione pointed surreptitiously. Harry wasn't surprised to see Ron and Cilath walking through the street together but he had a hard time recognising Cilath because she looked so different. "She looks beautiful."

"Yeah she does." Harry agreed.

"It's so unfair." Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil sidled up to them, dark looks on their faces. "Why should she look that amazing **and** have Ron, who's gorgeous, as a boyfriend?"

"Well it is the natural way for elves to be very beautiful." Harry said, trying to defend Cilath.

"It's completely unfair!" Lavender repeated.

"Wonder where they're going." Hermione said, watching the couple.

"Looks like they're heading for Madam Puddifoots." said Harry, grimacing at the memory of the place.

"Ron's taking her there too! Ugh!" Parvati huffed and threw her hands up in the air. "Why didn't he act like this before now? If he'd been like this when he was still a student I'd have gone out with him in a second."

"Ron always had these qualities!" Hermione snapped, "He's just never had the confidence to show it."

"Says the girl who told him he had the emotional range of a teaspoon." Lavender said. Hermione blushed. Harry groaned.

Ron and Cilath sat in Madam Puddifoots, both looking extremely uncomfortable as they looked around at all the frills and pinks. Ron actually felt distinctly sick.

"Well… this is different."

"This is gross." Ron countered Cilath's attempt to make it better. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks. It's got some class at least."

"Sounds good. I don't mind." Cilath stood up and Ron quickly ushered her out of the café. He sent a prayer of thanks to the Valar that elves had such sensible heads and weren't taken in by that nauseating stuff. Still, he had to admit if this had been a serious first date, it would have qualified as a disaster. "Ron, don't look so upset, I really don't mind." Cilath smiled at him and Ron fought not to grab her and kiss her with all his might. He missed being able to do that.

"Come on, Three Broomsticks is this way."

"Can we go to Honeyduke's afterwards?"

"Of course." Ron grinned at the thought.

The Three Broomsticks was pretty busy, and much to Ron's annoyance, most people turned to stare at Cilath when they entered. What he didn't realise was that it wasn't just Cilath they were admiring. Everyone was admiring him as well, how tall and handsome he'd gotten, how confident he looked, how strong and steady he appeared to be. His deeds had not gone unheard of in Hogsmead.

"Why don't you get a table Cilath and I'll get us the drinks."

"All right." Cilath smiled and kissed his cheek, as if to assure him he was the only one who held her attention. Ron grinned to himself as he went to the bar and ordered two butterbeers.

Madam Rosemerta gave him a flirtatious smile as she handed him his order and Ron felt his cheeks flush a little as he remembered the crush he used to have on her.

"I must say Mr. Weasley, you've got charms and looks your brothers could never hope to have. If you're not careful you'll be stealing your brother Bill's fiancé from him."

"Erm… thanks Madam, but I'm afraid I only have eyes for the beauty I came in with."

"Well she's a lucky woman… or elf."

"I'm the lucky one ma'am." Ron gave her a slight bow of the head and then brought the drinks over to Cilath who'd found a secluded table. "Here you go Cilath. Drink up."

Cilath smiled and sipped from her bottle, "Mmm, delicious. Now why can't we have that in Hogwarts?"

"Because then we wouldn't appreciate it half as much." Ron chuckled

"How true." They clinked bottles and drank some more. "So how are your students doing?"

"Well the sixth years are doing well, and so are the fifth years. The seventh years can be a bit difficult because they hate the fact that I'm younger than them."

"It isn't age that matters, it's experience."

"Tell that to them." Ron chuckled, "The first years are getting there. They were really clumsy and suffered from 'First Year-itis'"

"What's that?"

"All first years have a terrible habit of drooping books and bags, being very clumsy, and always working really hard because they're afraid of the teachers. It's a problem that they recover from once they get into second year."

"I had no idea… but it does explain a lot." Cilath was laughing. "What about second, third and fourth years?"

"All doing well, some need more brushing up than others but I'm confident that they'll soon have some chance of defending themselves at least."

"That's what they need. Magic is all very well until you run into something that's either more powerful with magic or is completely resistant to it. Then you're in trouble."

"Too true." Ron frowned, "Dumbledore still hasn't given me that spell I requested at the end of August. I'm getting very sick of waiting around for him to get his head out of the clouds and do it."

"Well… why don't you try and make it yourself?"

"Spell creating isn't my forte, you know I'm much more physically inclined than magically now."

"True. But what about Severus?"

"Snape?" Ron's eyebrows shot up.

"He'd probably have no trouble in designing the spell for you. He's very intelligent and he's a diligent worker. He would probably have the spell made for you in no time."

"I never really thought about that."

"Just because Snape has a grudge against Harry doesn't mean you shouldn't take advantage of his skills. He is an ally."

"So he says." Ron muttered before her could stop himself. Cilath sighed

"He's given no indication that he's against us."

"Given no indication that he isn't either."

"I know you don't like him, but why not ask him anyway? I don't think Professor Dumbledore will come through for you, no matter how much you want him to."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It simply means that I think you want him to prove himself as your hero of a Headmaster that he once was to you. You want that idolising feeling back because it was comforting and much of the security you once felt when you were younger has been taken from you because of your involvement in the army. You want some of it back and Dumbledore seemed like a likely way to get it."

Ron frowned. "I never thought of it that way before."

"Well… it's just a thought. But it does make sense from where I'm sitting."

"I guess." Ron furrowed his brow in thought and stared out at the pubs customers.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm just wondering when this war will be over and I don't have to worry about these kinds of things."

"I don't think you'll ever stop searching for that sort of idolisation until you realise that you can be your own hero. Hero's are not invincible, if they were they would be nothing to us. It's the fact that they know they can die, they have weaknesses, and yet they still do what has to be done. Those are heroes Ron. And you are one of them."

Ron shifted in his seat, uncomfortable about the way she was smiling at him. Finally he joked, "Are you sure you're not just trying to charm me?"

Cilath sighed and shook her head. "Humans are so irritating sometimes. They love to brag and yet they can't handle true praise. They worship beauty and are afraid of it. They want to know everything but shy away from those with answers or they simply ridicule them. You are such a dualistic race Ron."

Ron's frown deepened and he looked at her. As their eyes met however a blinding flash of pain went through his head and he saw something completely different.

_Cilath screamed in agony, while the monsters laughed and cackled all around her. Silver-red blood fell from her wounds and her dress was shredded. Ron wanted to help her but was unable, restrained by some unseen force. A dark figure loomed over Cilath and laid down upon her. Cilath screamed again._

"Ron? Ron are you alright?"

Ron shook his head as he looked up. Cilath was supporting him as he seemed to have slid off the chair. Much to his relief, very few people seemed to have noticed what had happened.

"Ron? Ron talk to me, what happened?"

Ron stared into Cilath's sapphire eyes that were filled with worry and he saw again her face contorted in agony.

"Nothing." he heard himself murmur, "It was just a dizzy spell. I'm fine now."

Reviews are very much appreciated

Night's Darkness


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